Over the Green

As has been well reported there is a controversy concerning the move by the PGA Tour, the United States Golf Association and other organizations to convince the International Olympic Committee golf should be in the Olympics.

One of the arguments against the idea is why would golf want to be part of the Olympics considering the shady if not down right unethical dealings the IOC has engaged in the past? Simply put, golf operates on a higher set of standards than all the other Olympic sports having a highly developed set of ethics and behavior.

Olympic acceptance is behind the drug testing policy instituted by the major tours as though golf has to prove something in order to get the seal of approval from the IOC and because of the politics involved there still is no guarantee.

Now the IOC President Jacques Rogge has made it even more evident the gulf between golf and other sports saying those who think a drug-free Olympic Games are possible are “naïve.” In fact he has such a low opinion of his fellow human beings he believes, “Cheating is embedded in human nature and doping is to sport what criminality is to society.”

Whether you agree or not with Rogge’s characterization of you and me the fact is golf has always been the one sport played by gentlemen and ladies. The ethics and morality of playing by the rules is ingrained in the game. Should you need a recent proof there is J.P. Hayes who disqualified himself from the PGA Tour Qualifying tournament for playing an improper ball and there are many more examples.

My point being, why would golf which is a game of high self-regulated standards, want to be part of the Olympics when the guy in charge thinks we are all cheaters?

After nine years the sponsorship marketing deal between Tiger Woods and Buick Motor Division of General Motors has been discontinued, part of cost cutting by the nearly bankrupt auto maker.

The contract with Woods had been effective through 2009 but was terminated early as part of a move to decrease marketing expenses by 20%.

The PGA Tour already announced a less than rosy picture for the 2009 schedule – although Commissioner Finchem did seem to view it through rose colored glasses – and now the LPGA says 2009 will be substantial less substantial than 2008.

Commissioner Carolyn Bivens presented the new schedule prior to the ADT Championship which begins tomorrow. It contains 31 events, three less than 2008 and total money will be down to slightly over $55 million or $4.7 million less.

The Ginn Tribute Hosted By Annika was out three months ago and joining the SemGroup Championship that lost its sponsor a month earlier when SemGroup filed for bankruptcy. Add to that ADT’s pull out from the ADT Championship and the Fields Open in Hawaii folding the only bright spot left is the addition of an eleventh international tournament the end of Feb. in Thailand.

Sponsors are looking closely at the $2-3 million ante plus associated other costs and coming to the conclusion they have better places to put the money. The next shoe for the LPGA may be the negotiation of the new television contract for 2010 so stay tuned.

The dream of membership on the PGA Tour came to the end for many this past weekend at Southern Hills Plantation Golf Club in Brooksville, Fla. but among the many players’ stories was that of Erik Compton.

It has been well reported the Miami resident had his second heart transplant in May and survived the first stage of Tour qualifying school. Compton is a gutsy, driven golfer who just happens to be walking around with someone else’s heart. Never mind the surgery ordeal or the pain or the drugs to prevent his body rejecting the new organ or the exhaustion after competing over the hills of Southern Hills even though he was granted the use of a golf car.

What Compton was most focused on was a fourth round 73 which put him one outside the line to advance to PGA West for the six round marathon known as the PGA Tour Qualifying School Finals.

His future? As reported by Bob Harig, “Maybe this is for the best. I’ll go back and relax. Maybe I’ll do some teaching, playing in a few tournaments. I’m a big believer in fate.”

Presently Compton has no status on any tour though he may receive invitations to play as was extended by the Disney tournament two weeks ago but whatever Erik Compton does it will be with the same drive and passion.

Acushnet Chairman and CEO Wally Uihlein issued a statement today to clarify the company’s position after a judge issued an injunction against Acushnet for violating patents held by Callaway Golf covering the best selling ProV1 golf ball.

Uihlein pointed out the Pro V1 was introduced in 2000 prior to the patents now owed by Callaway being issued. The four patents in question were applied for by the defunct Spalding Golf in 2001 and 2003 becoming part of the 2003 purchase of Spalding by Callaway. Further and perhaps most important subsequently the U.S. Patent office reviewed the patents and invalidated them, in essence removing any legal basis for Callaway to bring an infringement suit which they did in 2006.

When a jury found in favor of Callaway Acushnet appealed resulting in the injunction prohibiting sales of Pro V1s after January 1, 2009.

Central to the issue is the original trial court would not allow the jury to consider the fact all four patents were invalid and should never have been issued by the Patent Office.

Don’t Make a Comment
John Daly has a line of wines now, bearing the label “Grip It and Sip It.”

Pro V1s in Trouble?
Achusnet lost the patent infringement suit brought by Callaway Golf in a jury trial last year and now a judge has given Callaway a permenant injunction preventing Achusnet from selling Titleist Pro V1 golf balls. Achusnet says its is appealing.

More germain however according to Titleist the four patents Callaway contends were infringed upon are no longer in question. In a press release Achusnet said, “It’s important to recognize that this ruling will not have any impact on our ability to supply our customers with Pro V1 golf balls because … (in) September 2008, we converted production of the existing Pro V1 models so that they are outside of the patents in question.”

Finally, and I suppose you knew this was coming, a new version of the Titlesit Pro V1 is due out in spring 2009, “outside the scope of the patents in question.”

Bushnell Outdoor Products knows the business of distance measurement on the golf course. After all, for years they’ve made the most popular models of laser range finders.

But as GPS technology-based devices became available Bushnell stayed on the side lines and didn’t enter the melee between new companies vying for market share with often less than well thought out business plans. I had wondered why Bushnell hadn’t jumped into the GPS device market but the opportunity never came up to ask the powers-that-be and now it doesn’t make any difference.

Bushnell has brought to market the Yardage Pro and it’s not just another GPS range finder. In fact it has two distinct advantages to recommend it. More…

According to the National Golf Foundation not only will the number of courses opened in 2008 be the lowest number in 20 years but this year will be the third in row where the number of courses closing is greater than the number opened.

In other words the number of courses in the country is sinking and it hits public course golfers the hardest since a large portion of the closings are in the non-private and municipal categories.

Since we’re are on a negative roll with that piece of news the other negative is a sharp drop in the number of rounds played in Sept., 7.5% and year to date a negative 1.4% compared to 2007. There was bad weather around the country during the month contributing to the decline it still not good news any way you look at it.

The guys who run the European Tour are really smart.

They have figured out how to attract American PGA Tour stars to membership in the European Tour. Not just Phil Mickelson as mentioned in a previous column, but other big name players too.

Camilo Villegas, Geoff Ogilvy, Anthony Kim have already or soon will join the ranks on the other side of the pond. The list probably will not stop there. By lowering the number of tournaments a European Tour member must play to 12 and counting the four majors and three World Golf Championship events, finding the time to fill out the remaining five slots on the dance card is easy.

Being a member of the Euro Tour won’t put a crimp in players’ ability to play the American PGA Tour as the Americans also count the four majors and the WGC three in the mandated number of 15 tournaments. Phil, Camilo, Geoff and Anthony only have to play eight more times in the states. Again not something to overtax one’s imagination or schedule.

Another incentive to take on the Euros on their home turf is many stops pay large appearance fees just to entice name players. A few hundred thousand to defray expenses doesn’t hurt anyone. Lastly and certainly most significantly there’s the $20 million ‘Pot-At-The-End-Of-The-Rainbow,’ a.k.a. the Dubai World Championship, to be apportioned among the top 60 finishers who earn the privilege to go to Dubai from their standing after the regular season.

Write this down, money is attactive…even to those who have a lot already.

It is also clever of the European Tour management to begin each new year’s schedule the previous calendar year. While the American PGA Tour top 30 golfers are ignoring the ‘Fall Series’, that is everything played after the Tour Championship or the ‘forgotten seven’, the Euro Tour is starting their new year. Mickelson is playing next week as defending champion in Shanghai, the first event of the 2009 Tour, where he took the $5.6 million first prize last year. The fact is before the American PGA Tour hits its stride the end of January the Euros will have seven tournaments completed.

Part of the pros thinking also has to be the uncertainty of US Tour finances with almost half of the schedule having direct ties to the financial industry and the reduction of marketing budgets by even healthy companies. Much better to play for Middle Eastern oil money than worry about whether Wachovia is going to write a check to cover the prize fund.

Like I said the European Tour management is smart.