Golf archive

When President Barack Obama heads to Palm City, Fla. this weekend for a golf trip, he'll also be setting some time aside for a lesson or two.

According to a Golf Digest report from Golf Channel contributor Tim Rosaforte, Obama's upcoming visit to The Floridian Golf Club will also include lessons from noted instructor Butch Harmon and his son, Claude III. The Harmons will fly down to the course, where they have already established a learning center, specifically to offer tips to the Commander-in-Chief.

"I've played golf with Ike, Nixon, Ford and President Bush 41," Butch Harmon explained to Rosaforte. "I know the President is a real keen golfer ... I'm looking forward to it. It should be fun."

The President will spend the weekend as a guest of Jim Crane, who owns The Floridian in addition to the Houston Astros baseball team. Crane reportedly received a call last week while participating in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from the President's staff, indicating Obama's interest in visiting his facility.

The elder Harmon, who famously coached Tiger Woods early in his career, appears eager to take on the task of analyzing the President's game.

"He's a left-handed player, I've seen film of his swing before," he explained. "It'll be fun getting him down in the learning center, show him stuff in his golf game and see how he takes it to the course.

"He's just like all of us that play golf," Harmon added. "He wants to get better."







President Obama to Receive Golf Lessons from Harmons | Golf Channel

And a hole-in-one may win the golfer a 2013 Ford Mustang.

Golfers of all skill levels and handicaps can compete in the new James B. Pirtle Memorial Golf Classic, a four-person scramble featuring course contests.

The event will begin at 1 p.m. with a shotgun start.

Money from the entry fees — $375 for a four-person team or $100 for golfers entering individually — will benefit the Davie Summer Youth Golf Program.

Applicants can pick up entry forms at the Davie Golf and Country Club, 8201 Nova Dr.; the Pine Island Park Multipurpose Center, 3801 S. Pine Island Road; or online at DavieGolf-net.

Applications must be submitted by Feb. 10.

For more information, call the Davie Golf and Country Club at 954-797-4653.

Read more here: Golf tournament will benefit Davie summer program - Davie - MiamiHerald-com

Sir Steve Redgrave and Michael Campbell are in the back of a courtesy car having just shared a practice round at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship: British sport's philosopher king dispensing pearls to one of golf's fallen idols.

"I said to Steve: 'Winning a major championship was like conquering Everest. What can I do to better that?' Quick as a flash Steve said: 'Conquer Everest without an oxygen mask.' I thought to myself: 'You clever so-and-so.'

"It was a 45-minute drive and the best 45 minutes I've spent with a fellow athlete," adds Campbell. "Steve's mentality is that you conquer something and then push yourself to conquer even more. I really like him a lot."

The date was October 2010 and New Zealander Campbell, the surprise winner of the 2005 US Open, was in the midst of a dismal run that saw him make one cut in 19 European Tour events. He retired from two of them and earned about £11,000 for the season. That June, he was caught up in an etiquette storm at the US Open. Desperate to get off the course after carding 10 bogeys and one double in a second-round 83, Campbell played out of turn on the 18th hole. "This from a US Open champion?" railed the Oakland Tribune.

The reporter in question had presumably never clung onto something so hard and for so long that his arms were sore and his hands ached, only to watch it fall and shatter into a thousand pieces.

Asked to pinpoint his lowest point, Campbell heaves a deep sigh, the sound of a man casting a bucket down into a well of dark memories. "It was about three years ago," says Campbell, now 43. "I was playing in Doha and I'd missed about 12 cuts in a row. I just thought, 'this is the last straw, I've had enough'.

"So I went back to Australia and took about six months off. It gave me time to reflect on what I should do with my career. Should I give it all up or keep on going? I decided there was still more left in me, so I came back."

The feelings that accompany the disappearance of a talent that made you so vital can only be guessed at. "I felt like I was walking naked, like the grass was taller than me," said Ian Baker-Finch of his opening 92 at the 1997 Open at Royal Troon. Baker-Finch, winner of the Claret Jug in 1991, cried in the locker room, withdrew from the event and promptly retired from tournament golf.
Continue reading the main story

“Michael Campbell is back? "Again?! I feel like The Terminator, I come back every three or four years”

Michael Campbell

David Duval, Open champion in 2001, turned to his caddie on the flight home from Lytham and said: "I thought it would be better than this." Duval, a former world number one, has not won a PGA Tour tournament since.

Campbell has had plenty of existential moments following his annus mirabilis of 2005, in which he won the World Match Play and finished in the top 10 in the Open and US PGA, as well as winning the US Open at Pinehurst.

"I remember thinking as a kid, 'one day I'm going to hole a putt for a major championship'," says Campbell. "I didn't really look beyond that. So when I won one, I didn't reset my goals. Looking back now is horrible because it was such a simple thing to do. Instead I got totally lost in other things happening off the golf course. It made me forget about the simple things.

"I got lazy because I got so busy with off-the-course stuff, wrapped up with golf course design, appearances, charity days. It was a lot of fun the year after winning the US Open but it ate into my time actually playing golf. I take full responsibility, it was my fault it happened, this whole spiral downwards."

Campbell also remodelled his swing. When it is put to him that this seems like madness, he replies: "Trust me, it is crazy! And it ruined me. But golfers always want to refine, get even better. And how do you get better? You make changes.

"It's like when you buy a car, you don't buy the same car as you bought a couple of years ago, you buy a car that's more advanced. It's a little bit faster, it brakes a little bit quicker, it handles a little bit better. But I made too many big changes to my golf swing rather than little tweaks here and there." A shoulder injury suffered when lifting a suitcase from an airport carousel - if it doesn't rain, it pours - made things even worse. "It's been traumatic, with lots of things happening around me like a hurricane," says Campbell, who now lives in Marbella, on the Costa del Sol in Spain.

"My wife and family have been through a lot of emotional turmoil, from wonderful highs to awful lows. And it was difficult seeing my family see me like that."

Not that Campbell saw much of his family. Unbowed, he went from country to country, from range to range, emptying thousands of buckets of balls, like an alcoholic trying to find the secret of life at the bottom of a pint jug. Desperate, as his dad put it in a moment of gallows humour, not to go back to being a telephone technician, the job Campbell did before pursuing his dream in golf.

"That was the most difficult part of the whole thing," he says. "When you're not doing well and you're away from your family, you start thinking to yourself: 'Is this worth it? All this hard work for no return? Am I doing the right thing?'

"But you've just got to believe in yourself and things will turn around. Be patient, don't get too upset when things aren't working, keep on plugging away through the dark times."

Rather than dwell on those who faded agonisingly into obscurity, Campbell took heart from those who managed to reverse the trend. Like England's Lee Westwood, who went from being number one in Europe in 2000 to 246th in 2002 and whose advice Campbell cherishes.

And, of course, himself. When profiles of Campbell are written, it is often forgotten that his 2005 wasn't all mirabilis and that he began the season with five missed cuts. "I'm full of surprises," he says.

Last May, Campbell rekindled his partnership with coach Jo

President Barack Obama teed it up with Tiger Woods on Sunday.

The White House confirmed that the President and the world's most famous golfer played a round at a secluded, exclusive yacht and golf club on Florida's Treasure Coast.

Once the sport's dominant player before his career was sidetracked by scandal, Woods joined Obama at the Floridian, where Obama is spending the long Presidents Day weekend. The two had met before, but Sunday was the first time they played together.

The White House, which has promised to be the most open and transparent in history, has prohibited any media coverage of Obama's golf outing.

The foursome also included Jim Crane, a Houston businessman who owns the Floridian and baseball's Houston Astros, and outgoing U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, a former mayor of Dallas, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. Crane and Kirk also were part of Obama's foursome on Saturday, the White House said.

Obama, an avid golfer, also received some instruction Saturday and played a few holes with Butch Harmon, Woods' former swing coach.

Initial word that the First Duffer would play a round with the world's No. 2 player didn't come from the White House, but instead came from veteran golf journalist Tim Rosaforte, who announced it on Twitter. Rosaforte's late-morning tweet said: ''The president is arriving at the Floridian range. Awaiting is Tiger Woods and club owner Jim Crane. Historic day in golf. Their first round.''

White House confirmation of Woods' participation came about two hours later, following multiple appeals from traveling White House reporters.

Golf Digest reported on its website that Obama spent eight hours Saturday with Harmon, playing 27 holes and hitting balls in Harmon's studio, and then managed to coordinate Sunday's round with Woods. The report said the original plan called for Obama and Woods, a Florida resident, to play at Woods' home club - The Medalist Golf Club, a half-hour away in Hobe Sound. But they eventually opted for the Floridian.

Woods departed Sunday after the first 18 holes, with Obama staying on to play another nine, the report said.

''Just to see the interaction between the two on the range was pretty neat,'' Harmon told Golf Digest. ''The President said to Tiger: 'The last tournament you played was fun to watch. It's good to see you play well again.' You could tell he meant it. It just wasn't a throw it out compliment.''

It seems Obama and Woods - the first black men at the top of their respective fields - have spent the past few years inching toward Sunday's meeting on the fairway.

They met in January 2009, during Obama's inauguration in Washington. Four months later, in April, Woods visited the White House and Obama received him in the Oval Office.

Woods' personal life imploded later in 2009 after revelations that he had engaged in multiple extramarital affairs, leading to divorce. He followed with a public apology and announced he was taking an indefinite break from golf. Shortly after Woods announced he was coming out of seclusion, Obama said in an interview with Fox News Channel that Woods will still be a ''terrific'' golfer despite his personal issues.

After returning to the sport, Woods went two years without winning, but his game is back on track and he currently is ranked No. 2 in the world. Woods won the last tournament he played, three weeks ago in San Diego.

The White House made clear from the start of Obama's trip that there would be no coverage of him because he would be on vacation with no plans to leave the club, which remained open to members and their guests.

It arranged for the pool of reporters who traveled with Obama to bunk at a Holiday Inn about a 20-minute drive away in Port St. Lucie. Whenever the reporters were brought to the Floridian on the off chance that Obama might leave the property, they were taken no further than a maintenance shed beyond the club gates but on the edge of the grounds.

The presence at the Floridian of a professional journalist who tweeted about Obama's game as he was playing, while White House reporters essentially were locked out, brought a sharp response from Ed Henry, the Fox News Channel correspondent who also is president of the White House Correspondents' Association.

''A broad cross section of our members from print, radio, online and TV have today expressed extreme frustration to me about having absolutely no access to the president of the United States this entire weekend,'' Henry said in a statement. ''There is a very simple but important principle we will continue to fight for today and in the days ahead: transparency.''

In response, Earnest, the White House spokesman said: ''The press access granted by the White House today is entirely consistent with the press access offered for previous presidential golf outings. It's also consistent with the press access promised to the White House Press Corps prior to arrival in Florida on Friday evening.''

Previous administrations have allowed brief news media coverage at either the beginning or the end of presidential golf games. Obama's policy generally is no coverage at all, but exceptions were made for separate outings he had in 2011 with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and former President Bill Clinton.

Golf Channel said Rosaforte is a member of the Floridian who sent his tweets from the clubhouse. Rosaforte did not have access to the course or to Obama, the network said.

Obama is in Florida while his wife and daughters are on an annual ski vacation out West. He was due to arrive back in Washington on Monday night.


Y! SPORTS

President Barack Obama’s three-day Florida golf getaway featuring a round with Tiger Woods opened him to criticism of tone-deafness for playing when he’s at a budget impasse with Congress that threatens automatic spending cuts in less than two weeks.

After spending the President’s Day holiday weekend playing Floridian, a private golf course and club in Palm City, Florida, Obama returned to Washington last night. He faces a March 1 deadline to reach a deal with Congress to avert the $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts, which threaten to crimp the U.S. economic recovery. Joining Woods as Obama’s playing partners were businessmen and backer Jim Crane, who owns the course as well as the Houston Astros baseball team, Anthony Chase, former deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and Milton Carroll, chairman of Centerpoint Energy Inc. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Obama’s Chicago friend Eric Whitaker and presidential aide Marvin Nicholson also joined Obama on the course, according to White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

Such a fantasy golf weekend is out of reach for most Americans and presents a contrast to Obama’s inaugural and State of the Union speeches, which focused on economic inequality in the U.S., according to Paul Light, a professor of public service and governance at New York University.

“It’s off-tone” Light said “It makes him seem like more of a Washington insider than the strong advocate of the middle class that he wants to be.”
Weekend Away

Obama, 51, paid for his own expenses, including greens fees, lodging and food, Earnest said. Taxpayers pay for presidents’ travel and that of his entourage of staff and Secret Service personnel. Obama received routine briefings on domestic and international developments during his stay.

“I don’t think the American people begrudge their president spending a rare weekend outside Washington with some friends on the golf course,” Earnest said.

Tony Fratto, a former White House spokesman under President George W. Bush, said while Obama likely wouldn’t have taken a private golf vacation with Woods and donors while running for re-election, the second-term president and his advisers have concluded any political risk now can be managed.

Obama played golf during his first term even while “there were two overseas wars going and a financial crisis, and he got re-elected,” Fratto said. “So I think they have come to the reasonable conclusion that the American people don’t really care.”
Public Perceptions

Still, a game with aides and associates at a course near Washington, Obama’s regular golf scene, is different than hobnobbing with Woods and donors, Fratto said. “If he truly didn’t worry about the optics of it, they would let people take pictures of him golfing.”

Reporters and photographers traveling with the president weren’t permitted to enter the Floridian course or club house.

“I can tell you, from someone who’s made decisions about whether you want the press in the room or not, when you think it’s not going to look good you generally don’t allow press coverage,” Fratto said.

Presidential leisure pursuits, particularly golf, have long been fodder for their political opponents and run the risk of clouding presidential messages, as they sometimes did for Fratto’s former boss.

After Palestinian terrorists staged attacks in Israel, including the suicide bombing of a bus, in August 2002 Bush gave the U.S. reaction from a golf course near his family’s vacation compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.
‘Wrong Signal’

“I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop to stop these terrorist killers,” Bush said, adding “Thank you. Now watch this drive.”

Bush also was playing golf in Waco, Texas, in August 2003 when he was told of a truck bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq that killed Sergio Vieira de Mello and at least 16 others. He left the course and changed out his golf clothes to deliver his reaction in that case.

In a 2008 interview with Politico, Bush said he gave up golfing shortly after that event because it sent the “wrong signal” as the U.S. was engaged in a war. “I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said in the interview.

Still, Bush didn’t give up getting away for recreation. He regularly spent part of his weekends riding his mountain bike at the U.S. Marine base in Quantico, Virginia, or at a Secret Service training facility in just outside Washington. Every August he retreated to his Texas ranch.
Presidential Tradition

Golf getaways are part of presidential tradition. Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th U.S. president, was such an avid golfer that he had a putting green installed on the White House lawn and was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. Former President George H.W. Bush is in the hall of fame as well. Bill Clinton also enjoyed golfing outside of Washington.

The president’s break comes as Congress is out on a recess that will last all of the coming week, leaving no lawmakers for Obama to negotiate with even if he’d stayed in Washington.

Still, Obama and his aides must balance the benefits against the risks, Light said. Another downside to the golf trip was that all of Obama’s golf partners were male at a time the president has faced scrutiny over whether enough women hold key political, policy and cabinet posts, he said.

Added to that is that Woods, 37, the No. 2 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, is still rebuilding his image after a 2009 scandal over extramarital affairs derailed his marriage and career.

“You’ve got to be careful,” Light said. “Everything is a signal.”



Obama Golf With Woods in Florida Risks Muddling Messsage - Bloomberg

When Tiger Woods is your teammate, it's hard to lose. Still, President Obama has a pretty good game, according to the world's second-ranked golfer.

President Obama and Woods played golf over Presidents' Day weekend, and Woods divulged on Tuesday that they teamed up to beat the other players in their foursome, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Houston Astros owner Jim Crane. "He was my partner, and as I said, we won," Woods told reporters at a press conference after a practice round at the WGC-Accenture Matchplay Championship in Arizona.

"He hit the ball well, and he's got an amazing touch. He can certainly chip and putt," Woods said of Obama. "If he ... spends more time playing the game of golf, I'm sure he can get to where he's got pretty good stick" -- golf-aficionados' terminology for a talented game.

Asked how one gets an invitation to play with the president, Woods joked, "He calls up and says, 'Hey Tiger you wanna play?' Obviously there is a process that's involved, and I was invited to play, and it was an invitation that certainly you don't turn down, especially [since] he's an avid golfer, and so am I. So we went out there and we had just a great round of golf with Ron and Jim, and it was a good day."


Tiger Woods: Obama Has 'Amazing Touch' on Golf Course - ABC News

Jason Day stood on the seventh hole at the Golf Club at Dove Mountain, staring at a sky that looked like a pewter carpet unfurling. Mother Nature was coming up quickly on Day and his first-round opponent, Zach Johnson. They clearly were going to have to let her play through at the W.G.C.-Accenture Match Play Championship. Day, the lower seed, was 4 up over Johnson after six holes. As the skies grew blacker, his strategy grew bolder. On the par-5 eighth, Day hit a towering drive, and after Johnson found a fairway bunker with his shot, Day struck his iron approach to 15 feet. He went 5 up without having to putt.

Day’s goal, he said, was to close out the match before the worst of the weather arrived. He didn’t quite make it.

Day, an Australian who is ranked No. 43 in the world, was 6 up after 10 and in the 11th fairway when play was suspended because of rain that quickly turned to sleet and then snow. After a delay of 1 hour 58 minutes, play was suspended for the day as the 7,791-yard layout looked more like a slalom course than a golf course.

“Yeah, G-Mac said there’s some skis and ski boots at the front if we wanted to go skiing down these slopes,” Day said, referring to a fellow competitor, Graeme McDowell.

“Holy Coldness,” McDowell wrote on his Twitter account. He was on the first hole of his match against Padraig Harrington when the horn sounded to stop play. Before his drive, the mitten-clad McDowell addressed the die-hard fans in the bleachers. “Why are you here?” he said. “It’s on TV, you know. You’re crazier than me.”

This is how crazy the conditions were: McDowell hit a driver and 3-iron on the first hole, a 480-yard par-4, and was short of the green. Two and a half hours earlier, Day reached the green with a 4-wood and a wedge.

McDowell later wrote on Twitter, “I’ve only ever played in an event with conditions like this once — West of Ireland Championship in about 1998.”

Nine matches never started, including one that featured Tiger Woods, a three-time champion, against Charles Howell III, and another between Rory McIlroy, the world No. 1, and Shane Lowry.

“I’ve seen snow on the course when I was a kid,” said McIlroy, who is from Northern Ireland, “but nothing like that on any of the tours. It was crazy.”

Temperatures were in the high 40s at the start of the opening match, featuring Sergio García and Thongchai Jaidee. As the day grew colder, the scene at the first tee box grew more comical. Caddies hoarded hand warmers the way they usually protect snacks. Players rubbed their hands together vigorously and did calisthenics to stay warm.

Day said he began the day wearing four layers of clothing and two pairs of socks. He and his caddie were debating where it was colder — in the Sonoran desert on Wednesday, or along the Monterey Peninsula when February fog rolls in.

“I said this was way colder, and I was right because it snowed,” Day said.

When play was suspended, the temperature was 33 degrees. Carl Pettersson, whose match against Rickie Fowler never began, joked, “This is only one of the few times it’s an advantage to be fat.”

The tour is in its eighth week, and already it has weathered significant delays caused by wind and fog. So why not two inches of snow?

“What’s next?” Day said as he trudged through the snow on his way back to the clubhouse from the interview room.

A meteor, maybe? Locusts?

“It’s just climate change, you know — what can you say?” said Mark Russell, the vice president for rules and competition for the tour.

Snow fell on the final day of the 2011 event, but Wednesday, with 32 matches scheduled, there were more golfers on the grounds to behold it.

“Now I’ve seen it all,” George Coetzee wrote on Twitter. He was 1 up through four holes in his match against Martin Kaymer. Coetzee is from South Africa, as is Branden Grace, who was seen outside the clubhouse in short sleeves throwing snowballs.

David Toms, who was all-square after one hole in his match against his fellow American Nick Watney, said, “I feel like I should be wearing a lift ticket.”

Day likened the conditions to those during the third round of the 2011 British Open at Royal St. George’s, which was characterized by high winds and hard rain. “I’ve never been in rain and wind that strong,” he said. “I mean, I was holding the umbrella sideways, and the rain was coming in sideways.”

This time the weather left Day holding a sizable lead overnight. “I just have to go and just kind of switch the mind off this afternoon, not really think about the game tomorrow,” he said. “I really don’t want to go over and try to play the holes in my head too much and try and think about it too much.”



www-nytimes-com/2013/02/21/sports/golf/snow-delay-adds-to-golfs-weather-woes-at-wgc-accenture-play-championship-html?_r=0

Do Obama have the time to play golf😟?

Do Obama have the time to play golf😟?


Of Course he has he's the president 😁

Golf — all the world leaders are doing it.

Visiting President Obama at the White House on Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe presented the nation’s golfer-in-chief with a special gift: a putter made in Japan.

Abe related the story at a evening reception at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, where he greeted a ballroom of invited American guests. Abe, 58, told the crowd that he told Obama that his own grandfather, also a former Japanese prime minister, had played a round of golf with President Eisenhower in 1960.

Vice President Biden, who was also at the meeting in the Oval Office, then interjected to ask who had won the match.

“It’s a national secret,” Abe quipped.

It’s not clear whether Abe asked to play a round with Obama, who last weekend hit the links in Florida with Tiger Woods.


Japanese prime minister presents Obama with special golf putter

I need a new putter. Do I need to be the president to get a new one?

Much has been written and spoken about the simmering firestorm involved the anchored putting stroke and what might become of it in the near future.

The United States Golf Association and Royal & Ancient have proposed a rule change that will ban anchoring of any kind, a rule that will affect how the game is played at all levels.

It didn’t take the ruling bodies of golf long to decide that an anchored stroke was bad for the game, bad for the future of the game.

Three majors over a two-year span had been won by players using long putters and anchored strokes, the last of which happened in the Open Championship last year.

In October, the announcement of the proposed rule was made.

It sure does make you wonder why it’s taken those ruling bodies to finally recognize something that is a real problem, not one that’s viewed as a problem.

Slow play.

Forget about deer antler spray. Forget about the long putter and its anchored stroke.

Slow play has been around almost as long as the game itself and gets a lot of lip service, but virtually no action is taken to eliminate it.

One of the most damaging instances in the history of the PGA Tour took place in this year’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

Weather issues forced a portion of the final round to be played Monday, including 11 holes by the man who was to go on to win, Tiger Woods.

It took his group three hours and 45 minutes to play those 11 holes. By contrast, when he played a 19-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate in the 2008 U.S. Open, it took the two players 4.5 hours to play.

The group ahead of Woods—Brad Fritsch, Erik Compton and Steve Marino—were brutal, forcing waits between every shot for Woods and his playing partners.

The sad and very disappointing part was that the slow group was never put on the clock or even had slow play mentioned to them. Even more sad is the fact that you could hear remote controls across the country clicking as fans hoping to see Woods close out his first win of 2013 became so bored of all the standing around they couldn’t handle it anymore.

As stated earlier, this has been a problem for the PGA Tour for years. In 2008, commissioner Tim Finchem was quoted in a story in Golf Digest that “Pace of play has always been a problem—more so in the eyes of some than others, perhaps—and I always in my mind divide it between the extent to which it's a problem at the professional (level) and the extent to which it's a problem just in terms of how long it takes to play a round of golf for the average player that wants to go out and play.”

And while the cries from players, fans and media are increasing in volume, Finchem has changed his tune a bit, admitting that there is a problem and steps need to be taken.

The USGA, on the other hand, has seen enough—and just five days after Woods’ grueling win, the ruling body of golf in the United States announced plans to launch a "multi-faceted program" this year in partnership with golf industry leaders, allied organizations, media partners and golf course managers in a bid to resolve the issue.

The USGA has realized not just that slow play on the professional level is tarnishing the game at every level, but that it can do real damage to the fanbase of the PGA Tour that has faithfully watched tournaments over the years even though it’s getting more and more tedious to do so.

The biggest problem to a real solution being realized: the PGA Tour. Finchem and his Tour officials will rattle off any number of reasons why it’s impossible to get four-hour rounds to be the norm for the pros.

But yet week after week we watch on TV as one player hits, his playing partner is on the other side of the fairway doing nothing to get prepared to hit next.

Pre-shot routines have become sideshows, and the time it takes players to putt sometimes reaches a minute.

Players have long taken the stance that because they’re playing for millions of dollars, they don’t care how long it takes to hit a shot, they’ll hit when they are ready.

Finchem doesn’t like to make waves and doesn’t want to soil his hands with penalties and fines.

Now the USGA is putting its shoulder into the initiative of making the game pick up the pace a bit, and they’ll no doubt come to conclusions the PGA Tour probably isn’t going to like.

Expect considerable pushback on this issue and don’t expect much to change.

And don’t be surprised if golf fans don’t find something else to do on Saturday and Sunday afternoons instead of watching guys stand around golf courses instead of actually playing golf.


Why Slow Play Is Ruining Golf on PGA Tour | Bleacher Report

Fighting out of the blue corner you have the PGA Tour, the PGA of America and the National Golf Course Owners Association which considered by many is a highly influential voice in the game of golf in America plus most of the major equipment companies that make belly and long putters.

All of them have stated that banning the anchoring of a putter would be a huge mistake.

On Sunday during the Accenture Matchplay final, USPGA Tour boss Tim Finchem said that 13 of the 15 players on the PGA Tour advisory board were against the ban.

"The essential thread that went through the thinking of the players and our board of directors was that in the absence of data or any basis to conclude that there is a competitive advantage to be gained by using anchoring, and given the amount of time anchoring has been in the game, that there was no overriding reason to go down that road," Finchem said. "The game globally is stronger than it’s ever been and that on the heels of having anchoring as part of it for the last 30 or 40 years. You can’t point to one negative impact of anchoring.”

Over in the red corner and for the ban are the tradionalists led by the games two governing bodies, the US Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient.

Alongside them and vocal about the banning are some of the game’s biggest names in Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Greg Norman and Arnold Palmer.

There argument is: "The game has always been about whether you can handle your nerves under pressure and especially putting and no doubt the long putter helps control that".

That’s a fair call and I totally agree with. There is no doubt in my mind I would not have won the Hawaiian Open on the US Tour back in 1994 if I wasn’t using the long putter.

It certainly helped me control my stroke when under pressure.

But the crux of it is that the long putter has been around for over four decades and if they were going to ban the method they should have stepped on it back in the ‘80’s or ‘90’s. But they didn’t.

C’mon you guys open your eyes! Why would you (the USGA) specifically give the thumbs up to anchoring on two separate occasions and now do a back-flip just because a couple of guys have won Majors.

It’s not about the professionals you idiots it’s about the millions of others that play the game and need a long putter to enjoy this wonderful game.

Now back to the golf and this week the PGA Tour moves to the first event of the Florida swing, the Honda Classic.

It’s played on one of the toughest golf courses you will find anywhere in the world, the Jack Nicklaus designed PGA National. The course boasts one of the most fearsome stretches of holes in all of golf and is simply known as “Bear Trap”. Holes 15-17 are talked about each year and that will be no different this week.

Rory McIroy is back to defend his title he won a year ago and so is the runner up Tiger Woods.

Woods closed last year’s championship with the low round of the tournament, an eight under par 62. Both players will have plenty to prove this week after shock first round losses at the WGC event in Arizona.

No doubt the American players will be out to avenge a terrible run at this event with 7 of the last 8 winners all being international players. And I feel the trend will continue this year.

Watch out for Charl Scwhartzel. Played great at the Northern Trust Open a couple of weeks ago finishing one shot out of the playoff.

Six of his eight rounds played on the Nicklaus course have all been under par. Finished T5 in 2012.

After missing the cut in his first event of the year Frederick Jacobson has light it up.

He posted back to back top 10’s and then last week made it through to the 3rd round. Has two top 10’s at this event the past four years.

There are 10 Aussies in the field this week and no doubt the standout is Jason Day. In four starts in 2013 the Queenslander has posted three top 10s.

Coming off a great effort last week at the WGC event where he beat Ian Poulter to finish 3rd.

Have a great golfing week everyone!



Heavyweight showdown over putters | Golf | Fox Sports

Wintergreen Resort in central Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains is set to host two Nike Golf Camps during the summer of 2013.

San Rafael, CA (PRWE😎 February 26, 2013

Wintergreen Resort, home to two championship golf courses and the renowned Wintergreen Golf Academy, will offer two weeks of Nike Golf Camp for junior golfers this summer. Wintergreen joins The College of William & Mary as the only two Nike Golf Camp locations in the state of Virginia.

“Wintergreen Resort has all the attributes we look for in a host site,” says Nike Golf Camps Vice President, Jason West. “The location itself is breathtaking, the golf facilities are fantastic and most importantly the staff led by Director of Golf, Geoff Redgrave, is purely first class. This will become one of the Mid-Atlantic region’s best junior golf camps in the near future.”

Wintergreen Resort will offer a coed day camp the week of July 7 – 11 for junior golfers of all abilities, ages 8 – 17. The program includes all instruction, greens fees, and lunch daily. An overnight camp is scheduled for August 4 – 8. This program is open to boys and girls of all abilities, ages 10 – 18, and includes all housing, meals, golf instruction, and greens fees.

"We're excited about bringing the successful Nike Golf Camps to Wintergreen this summer”, states Geoff Redgrave, the director of golf and instruction for Wintergreen Golf Academy. “Top notch instruction from our PGA professional staff, the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and a resort filled with so many fun things to do make this a perfect fit for us."

Wintergreen Resort is an 11,000-acre, four-season resort located in the Blue Ridge Mountains southwest of Charlottesville, Va. This beautiful hideaway is the ultimate vacation and conference spot, nearly 300 condominium-style accommodations; 45 holes of championship golf; snow skiing, snowboarding and snow tubing; an award-winning tennis program; a full-service, destination spa; 40,000 square feet of meeting and event space; and savory dining options. The resort is located adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway in beautiful central Virginia near Charlottesville, just 90 minutes from Richmond, Va., three hours from Washington, D.C. and Raleigh, N.C., five and a half hours from Philadelphia, and eight hours from Atlanta.

For more information on Nike Golf Camps at Wintergreen Resort please visit Nike Golf Camps, Wintergreen Resort.

About Nike Golf Schools & Junior Camps

Nike Golf Schools & Junior Camps (NGJC) is a division of US Sports Camps, Inc., America’s largest sports camp network. NGJC offers junior overnight and day camps, and advanced player schools at over 90 locations nationwide. Since 1994, more than 150,000 junior golfers have participated in the camps. To explore a variety of camp options and locations please visit the official website for Nike Golf Schools & Junior Camps at ussportscamps-com/golf or phone toll-free 1-800-NIKE-CAMP.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: Nike Golf Camps Come to Central Virginia

Read more: Nike Golf Camps Come to Central Virginia

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- The official comment period on anchoring ends Thursday, but the debate promises to continue as the PGA Tour has moved east with the start of four consecutive events in Florida beginning with the Honda Classic.

There is no shortage of opinions, no easy answers.

Those who say using an anchored stroke is an advantage are countered by those who argue that if it's an advantage, why doesn't everyone do it?

Those who say it is not a proper golf stroke ask why it has been allowed for more than 30 years.

But those who claim it is going to hurt the game's growth? Sorry, you lose me there.

Golf has many problems when it comes to keeping players or acquiring new ones. The time it takes to play, the cost, the ability to practice, even to consistently get the ball airborne -- all of them hurt the game's growth.

But putting? Unless you are a pro driven to frustration by the inability to get the ball in the hole -- or perhaps a high-level amateur who competes frequently -- it is hard to believe a golfer would quit playing completely.

If so, how truly devoted to the game is that player?

Most of us who play the game recreationally lament our inability to putt, but we tend to rationalize it. Didn't read it correctly. Hit it too hard. Didn't see that spike mark.

Sure, we experiment with putters. Mallets, blades, all manner of inserts. We change stances, grips, pre-shot routines. But if we can't use an anchored putter, we are just going to give up, walk away from the game?

Yet that is a big part of the spin being portrayed by the anchor proponents. The PGA of America announced a study of its 27,000 members -- of which only 16 percent responded -- when the anchoring ban was first announced, saying more than 60 percent did not want an anchoring ban.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem referenced the state of the game when stating that the tour would like to see the United States Golf Association and R&A drop its proposed ban. That attitude has clearly trickled down to the players, many of whom are against anchoring.

"I'm for all people enjoying the game and trying to make the game as easy as possible and bringing people to the game, and if that means that they should allow belly putters or anchor putters to make it easier for the general public, then that's a good thing," said Rory McIlroy, who when the ban was announced Nov. 28 clearly stated he was in favor of it. "But then they talk about bifurcation and whether you should have one set of rules for us and one set of rules for the amateurs. It's a bit of a mess."

McIlroy is not alone. Several players have commented on the health of the game as among their concerns about an anchoring ban.

But who anchors when they start playing golf? And why would a rule against it stop anyone from playing?

The American Junior Golf Association tracked the number of players in its events who used an anchored stroke from June 18 to Oct. 30. Only 111 of 5,761 players (1.9 percent) used an anchored stroke. Yet the USGA is concerned that even that many are anchoring at such a young age.

"The R&A and USGA are highly focused on enhancing the long-term health of the game by addressing potential obstacles of participation, such as the belief that the game is too expensive or takes too long to play," according to FAQs on the USGA website concerning the proposed anchoring ban. "Such important considerations of cost and personal choices about use of time are key issues about participation, not whether or not golfers are allowed to anchor their putters.

"We do not share the view that some have expressed that the health or growth of the game depends on allowing anchored strokes. Our best judgment is that the recent sharp increase in the use of anchoring has occurred because a growing number of golfers of all ability levels have adopted the stroke in the belief that it may help them play better, not because they view it as their only alternative to quitting the game."

Golf has bigger issues than anchoring, certainly, and this issue is at the forefront for the immediate future. For or against, it makes little sense to tie the argument to the game's growth or lack thereof. Rory McIlroy is cashing in on his success as the world's No. 1 golfer. The highly touted Nike deal came together prior to his first tournament of the year in Abu Dhabi. At the Honda Classic, McIlroy was part of an announcement Tuesday in which he will endorse Bose, an audio equipment company.

McIlroy good-naturedly took some ribbing about "getting used to" his new electronic equipment. The big story line so far as it relates to Nike is McIlroy's ability to adjust to 14 new clubs and a golf ball. That transition has been a bit slow, as McIlroy missed the cut in Abu Dhabi and was bounced after just one round of last week's WGC-Match Play Championship.

Unlike Nike, however, McIlroy is not having to get used to the Bose goods. According to McIlroy, he has been a longtime lover of the various products. Now he'll get paid to use what he's already been using.


Anchor ban won't impact growth of golf -- Golf - ESPN

The Spokane Country Club must pay more than $500,000 for discriminating against female members.

A Spokane County Superior Court jury Thursday ruled in favor of four women who argued they were denied the full benefits of club membership simply because of their gender. The unanimous verdict caps a five-year legal battle that exposed multiple examples of the club’s practice of allowing its male members the premium tee-times for golfing and bars women from certain areas of the restaurants.

The case was argued before Superior Court Judge Linda Tompkins over the past two weeks.

Drusilla Hieber, Laura Skaer, Nancy Van Noy and Tracy Christensen filed suit against the club, asking for $4.5 million collectively. The jury awarded Skaer $34,721, Hieber $185,464, Van Noy $184,299 and Christensen $174,061 on Thursday, including $150,000 in noneconomic damages for all except Skaer.

Attorney Mary Schultz, who represented the four women, said in closing arguments Wednesday that the club’s board of directors has been continuing a 115-year tradition of giving men premium tee-times on Wednesdays and Saturdays while women must play on Tuesdays or Thursdays.

“The world has moved on,” Schultz argued to the jury. “Washington has moved on. Discrimination is not controlled by the majority or who plays more rounds. It’s against the law to establish gender-based practices.”

Attorneys Matt Anderson and Kevin Breck, representing the club, said the club had been making changes, such as removing the name “Men’s Grill” from a portion of the restaurant and other changes requested by Schultz and the plaintiffs.

“What brought you to this courtroom was a dispute over tee times that started in 2008,” Anderson said in his closing argument. “This is just a disagreement. The four plaintiffs believe there should be no gender-based events, period. The other members disagree.”

He said most of the club’s 630 golf players are men, and Van Noy golfed 77 rounds in 2011 and 2012. “Does that look like someone who has been denied the full opportunity to enjoy her course?” Anderson asked.

“To come to court and say they don’t let me play on Wednesdays is disingenuous and unfair.”

He went on to say there are tournaments in which only men play and some in which only women play, and two of the plaintiffs “not only had an opportunity to play in them, they designed” the tournaments.

The jury was unanimous in the decision that all women were discriminated against by the club, but one member of the jury did not agree on the noneconomic damages.




www-spokesman-com/stories/2013/mar/01/jury-finds-against-golf-club-in-bias-case/

Rory McIlroy walked off the 18th green at PGA National last year and shared a big hug with his father after winning the Honda Classic to reach No. 1 in the world for the first time.

His departure Friday was nothing like that.

Hands in his pockets, he waited short of the green to tell Ernie Els and Mark Wilson that they would have to finish the second round by themselves. McIlroy was 7-over par through eight holes, on his way to another short week, and it was time for him to leave.

He walked off the green and kept going, around the golf shops, out to the parking lot and into his car. And just like that, he was gone.

The reason behind his abrupt departure remained a subject of debate.

"There's not really much I can say, guys," McIlroy told three reporters who followed him out to their car. "I'm not in a good place mentally, you know?"

They asked three times if there was anything wrong physically, and he said there was not. When asked about his swing, the 23-year-old from Northern Ireland brushed off the question by saying, "Yeah, I really don't know what's going on."

But an hour later, he released a statement through his management company that he couldn't concentrate because of a sore wisdom tooth that needs to come out.

"I have been suffering with a sore wisdom tooth, which is due to come out in the near future," McIlroy said. "It began bothering me again last night, so I relieved it with Advil. It was very painful again this morning, and I was simply unable to concentrate. It was really bothering me and had begun to affect my playing partners."

This much can be said for Boy Wonder.

With the Masters just more than a month away, McIlroy has played only 80 holes this year. He missed the cut in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship with rounds of 75-75. After a four-week break, he was eliminated in the first round of the Match Play Championship after a sloppy performance against Shane Lowry. And after opening with a 70 that gave no cause of alarm on Thursday, he was done eight holes later.

"His demeanor looks a little different," said Graeme McDowell, one of his best friends. "I felt like he was a little off with his golf swing on the range. There were a few moans and groans coming from the bay next to me. It's normally a display. It's normally a clinic. It's superlatives coming from the coach and the caddie. That's the sign of a guy who's lacking a little technique in his swing and a little belief in his game."

McIlroy is still scheduled to play next week at Doral, and he could have some explaining to do.

Bad play is one thing. The question was whether McIlroy showed bad manners by leaving early, and while one person truly understands the level of pain or discomfort, it was enough to raise questions by his peers.

"I'm a great fan of Rory's, but I don't think that was the right thing to do," Els said.

Told about McIlroy's statement about the sore wisdom tooth, Els softened his stance, not wanting to judge another player's pain.

"I didn't see anything, but if he had a toothache, that's what it is, you know?" Els said. "Hey, it's tough. If you ask him how he's feeling now, he's obviously feeling terrible for what's happened this morning."

"I didn't notice anything," Wilson said. "He wasn't playing the way the world No. 1 plays normally. Didn't hit the ball where he wanted to, and he's a true gentleman, though. He ... wasn't treating Ernie and myself in a different way. He was upset with his golf and I guess he had enough for the week."

Read more here: PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.: McIlroy another no-show on the weekend - Golf - MiamiHerald-com

Kiwi Michael Hendry has defended his NZ PGA Championship title at The Hills after he beat Australian Scott Strange in a playoff this evening.

Hendry and Strange were tied at a course-record-equalling 19-under after four rounds after they shot 67 and 66 respectively today and had to replay the 18th hole to decide the champion.

On the playoff hole Hendry made a clutch putt to register a birdie, which made him the first back-to-back champion since Frank Nobilo achieved the feat in the mid-1980s.

Overnight leader Rohan Blizard faded on the final day as he shot a one-over 73 and had to make do with a share of fifth place at 14-under alongside Chinese 17-year-old Li Haotong and Vietnamese professional Michael Tran.

Kiwi Josh Geary made an impressive run during the final round as he made four birdies on the front nine then an eagle at the par-five 13th.

His momentum halted when he made bogey at the par-three 16th but he still finished with a six-under 66 as he and Gareth Paddison were tied for third at 15-under for the tournament.

Geary, the world No 789, said he was pleased to log a decent finish after a barren run last year - where he spent time trying to work on his swing - as he lost his status on the web-com Tour in the United States.

"It was good. I went out there today with the mindset of shooting a low number,'' he said.

"I had to do it to put any pressure on and I was a bit far back unfortunately. But I played great, hit the ball great all week and just couldn't quite finish it off. I had it going and was seven-under there for a while and had a chance to get to eight-under on 15 but you can't hole everything. I was holing some good putts early and kept it up.''

Paddison looked like he was going to claim victory at one point during the afternoon when a remarkable run of seven birdies in his first 11 holes put him to 18-under before disaster struck.

The left-hander bogeyed the 12th, dropped another two shots on the 13th and then bogeyed the 15th to drop out of contention.

He made one back on the par-four 18th to close with a four-under 68 but it wasn't enough to see him claim a rare victory on home soil.

Veteran Steven Alker finished in a tie for eighth at 12-under, alongside a collection of players including fellow Kiwi Jared Pender, after a six-under 66 saw him race up the leaderboard on the final day.

The 41-year-old Alker missed a tricky putt on the 18th to finish with a bogey after he nearly saved par following a useful chip from the bunker in front of the green.

"I played pretty solid all day and I made some more putts,'' Alker said after his round. "I'm disappointed with the final hole because we were kind of in there with the team event and I was playing well, but it was fun.''

Alker's bogey on the 18th meant he and playing partner Mike Davies gave up the lead in team standings for the pro-am but they eventually claimed a share of second at 17-under.

Perth-based Kiwi professional Michael Long and retired construction company chief executive Chris Hunter won the pro-am at 18-under, which resulted in a $10,000 prize for Long.

Lower Hutt's Mark Brown, one of the pre-tournament favourites, finished with a final-round 68 and he had to settle for a share of 21st at nine-under.

Brown, a former European Tour player, was paired with Primer Minister John Key for the weekend and they finished in a share of 16th on the team standings at 13-under.


Golf: Hendry defends NZ PGA title - Sport - NZ Herald News

As Northern Hemisphere golfers get ready for spring, dusting off their clubs and practising their strokes, we take a look at some dream golf destinations. From dramatic ocean views to sweeping cityscapes, here is a sample of what some of the world's most gorgeous golf courses have to
offer.

Kauai Lagoons Golf Club, Hawaii, USA
Hawaii boasts a plethora of breathtaking golf courses, but the Kauai Lagoons Golf Club claims to have the longest stretch of continuous ocean holes on the islands.

Emirates Golf Club, Majlis, Dubai, UAE
One of the best links in the Middle East, this classic course was the first grass course in the area and features seven fresh and saltwater lakes, along with sweeping cityscapes.

St. Andrews Golf Club, Scotland
St. Andrews is probably the most famous golf course in the world -- with golf being played on this land since the 15th century -- and is considered to be the "home of golf."

Cape Kidnappers, Napier, New Zealand
Built on a 5,000-acre former sheep ranch sat atop the vertical cliffs that descend into the Pacific Ocean, Cape Kidnappers has some of the most astounding views of any course on earth.

The Fairmont Banff Springs, Alberta, Canada
Tucked inside one of Canada's most beautiful national parks, the Fairmont Banff Springs Course in western Alberta offers stunning panoramic views as the course winds its way along the valleys of the Bow River.

Gullane Golf Club in East Lothian, Scotland
This gorgeous locale which opened in 1744 is home to the world's oldest golfing society. More than 200 years later, Jack Nicklaus won his first British Open here on

Fuji Classic, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
This gorgeous course designed by Desmond Muirhead is right at the foot of Mount Fuji.

Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA
Established in 1894, Pinehurst oozes not only golf history but Carolina charm, with a sample platter of courses designed by golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.


Eight of the world's most beautiful golf courses - Hindustan Times

World number one Rory McIlroy says he regrets withdrawing from the PGA Tour's Honda Classic over a toothache and if he had to do it over again he would have stuck it out even if it meant shooting an 85. "It was a reactive decision," McIlroy told Sports Illustrated. "What I should have done is take my drop, chip it on, try to make a five and play my hardest on the back nine, even if I shot 85.

"What I did was not good for the tournament, not good for the kids and the fans who were out there watching me -- it was not the right thing to do."

McIlroy, who was trying to defend the Florida title, is now sorry he pulled out midway through the second round with a wisdom tooth problem. He was seven-over par at the time.

McIlroy took plenty of heat for pulling out of the event and it only made an already rough start to the season worse for him.

"I didn't want to be there," he said.

In his first event in Abu Dhabi, McIlroy missed the cut after rounds of 75-75 and he was ousted in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play.

He said he expects to have one of his troublesome lower wisdom teeth pulled following the US Open in June.


McIlroy regrets pulling out of Honda golf event | Bangkok Post: news