Over the Green

At last…the end of the 2010 season. Well not really the end, but close enough. The golf world is ready to get on with the new year – new season.

On the PGA Tour the number one ranked golfer was a no-show for the first three months, retained his top ranking while playing mediocre at best with no wins and just two top tens. The world’s number two was diagnosed with a debilitating disease, won the Masters and a few youngsters entered the winners circle.

The LPGA Tour despite losing one-third of their scheduled tournaments over the last two years, having the top player quit-the second in two years-and faced with increasing disinterest from American fans did get a big sponsorship from Wegman’s Supermarkets for the LPGA Championship and finally gets an event in Florida – the Tour Championship this Dec. at Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem characterized 2010 as “interesting” and “eventful” while LPGA Tour commissioner Michael Whan, as reported on GolfWeek.com, “came in 2010 with significant fear.”

It certainly was an interesting year and no doubt there’s still fear in some quarters.

Private golf clubs are feeling the pinch from the economic hard times faced by members and prospective members with the concensus seemingly being private clubs will survive but that segment will never be the same again. This could also be said for the high-end resort courses however it’s better than evenmoney as business people feel fewer financial constraints (business will eventually improve!), entertaining and travel the biggest drivers of resort golf will return.

Across the board a lot of courses have gone out of business and others while still operating are in bankruptcy. It goes without saying every non-private course is looking hard to cut costs and grab a bigger share of what rounds are being played. The numbers from the National Golf Foundation, which track this kind of thing, are a lagging indicator but show a continued shrinkage of the number of courses.

According to the NGF at the end of 2009 there were 15,979 golf facilities broken down as 11,637 public and 4,342 private. During the year 139.5 courses closed (they calculate everything in 18-hole equivalents) and 49.5 opened for a net decrease of 90 courses. That’s the fourth year in a row the number of courses has gone down. It’s difficult to tell where the bottom is but it is clear there is still an over supply of golf facilities so more golf courses will close and there will be another net loss of golf courses in 2010. One industry veteran figures even after the declines of the last four years there are still 20% to 25% too many golf courses.

A bright spot though is with the long awaited upturn in housing construction perhaps on the horizon, residentail development golf course construction could get a boost. At one time developers felt all they had to do was build a course, stake some lots and the rest was easy and profitable. This part of the industry though will take a few more years to be truly healthly, just like the overall housing business. When residental developments with golf courses as an amenity are started again they are going to need a new business model to sell houses and it probably won’t be at the inflated inflated “golf course frontage” prices of the past 20 years.

Finally and continuing the trend of the of the last several years, the number of rounds played are down. It is significant the loss of players and therefore rounds played has continued and seems to be accelerating. The loss of players – over 5% in 2009 – is bad news not only for golf courses but also for club manufacturers, golf tourism and any of the allied businesses.

So on balance, a lot of golf people will be glad to see the end of 2010 even accepting the old saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Golf needs a big change. Increase the number of players and everything will take care of itself.

Matt Kuchar had a great year on the PGA Tour and this week is in Wales as a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Part of his equipment is the Bridgestone B300-S golf ball, a prototype of which he has been playing on Tour the latter part of the year.

The newest update of the popular B330 series has a different material in the dual mantle of the Tour B330 and Tour B330-S called RD10 resin which gives high swing speed players greater initial velocity with softening of the mantle layer. MORE…

In October 2000 the introduction of Acushnet Golf’s Titleist Pro V1 changed the golf ball business and immensely strengthened Acushnet’s dominant position in the marketplace.

More importantly for golfers the Pro V1 changed the way golf is played by producing much more distance with less curvature in flight while maintaining control of short shots. Longer, straighter, better around the green created a stampede to buy them, a real “game-changer.” MORE…

There’s a story making the rounds the sales of wedges with “square or box” grooves have been strong in anticipation of the imposition of the new rule from the United States Golf Association. In essence the rule, which is already being adhered to by all the professional tours, says pros may not play irons (those with more loft than a five-iron) that have box grooves because they give too much control to iron shots especially hitting from the rough.

Amateurs who play in USGA championships have until 2014 to switch to irons with allowable grooves. The rest of us don’t have to replace those nonconforming box-grooved irons until 2024, unless of course we were to buy a new wedge or set of irons in the next 14 years. MORE…

Let’s see, for the first time Tiger Woods will go a full season without a tournament win, rules officials at every level seem to be in the news – most of it not good, Dustin Johnson showed he has game by winning at the BMW Championship after the U.S. Open and PGA and the USGA after making repeated statements of the inadvisability of two sets of rules-one for pros and a different one for the rest of us-has done just that by the decision to disallow box grooves and then phase in implementation over more than a decade. Makes one wish for simpler times.

The latest revelation is the USGA has been testing shorter flying golf balls. Dick Rugge, Technical Director of the Association, says this has been an ongoing program for five years which naturally raises everybody’s hackles as in why the secrecy. Rugge explains it by saying the program and most especially the results have not been publicized since they don’t want to affect future testers with past results.

This naturally begs the question, if you were asked to test a golf ball by the USGA, wouldn’t you think one if not the most important result they were looking for was distance?

In any event the issue of two sets of rules is out in plain set still and needs to be addressed in some other manner than the USGA is doing presently, such as not being so worried about secrecy or tradition and more about the health of the game. One can understand both points of view by the Far Hills administrators however these are not the most pressing problem faced by the game or the business of golf.

Golf has always been and presumably always will be changing. New materials, manufacturing techniques, agronomic improvements and better player conditioning each play a part and if you read anything of golf history always have. To focus solely on equipment (drivers, grooves, balls) which the USGA has done particularly behind closed doors is both short sighted and bad for the game.

Frank Thomas, former USGA Technical Director and current industry consultant, wrote recently:

It is true that the USGA is testing a golf ball, which has reduced flight properties — about 20 to 25 yards less distance than the present ball. The distance the elite players hit the ball has been a concern since 1890. The fear is that the increase in distance will continue and that something needs to be done. It is this mindset that has initiated numerous and very questionable rules changes, which have had no effect on the distance balls go.

Having said this; the good news is that the USGA is conducting tests which I am sure will include the average gofer not just the elite (.001%) of the golfing population, and that the effect on the game as a whole will be very carefully considered. This is a sizable study which if done correctly will take a number of years to complete. The bad news is that the tests are being done as much behind closed doors as possible. This is not the way to govern the game.
If we really have a problem with the distance the ball goes we need to clearly define this problem. We then need to explain to the golfing public – indirectly the USGA’s constituents – that this problem needs to be resolved to protect the integrity of our game.

Kyle Phillips has worked mostly in Europe

If one thinks about the greatest golf course architects of the modern era the list would probably contain names such as Doak, Dye, Fazio, Hills, Jones and Jones II and plus perhaps players turned architect like Palmer, Nicklaus and Norman.

However there’s one more name which should be included, Californian Kyle Phillips. Who is Kyle Phillips, you say? American golfers are not familiar with the name nor the courses Phillips has to his credit but the list is impressive…it’s just most of them are outside the U.S. MORE…

He has arthritis, survived cancer, lost his wife of more than four decades to cancer but still is known as The King. Arnold Palmer may be on the second nine of life and his golf game may not be up to the high standards to which he formerly played, he is though beloved by virtually every fan.

Arnie still plays or practices almost every day whether at his Bay Hill club in suburban Orlando or the course in Latrobe where he grew up and is now the owner.

To give an idea of his magnetism, charisma or whatever you want to call it; a few years ago some visitors from California were driving past the eighteenth tee at Bay Hill when Palmer’s foursome was hitting their tee shots. The Californians couldn’t believe their eyes (“My God, there’s Arnold Palmer”), quickly came to a stop and stuck a camera out the window.

The King noticed them, hit his tee ball and then walked to the edge of the tee box near the street waving so they would have a good picture and a great memory. There aren’t a lot of touring professionals who would do that, much less be grinning and obviously having a good time.

At 81, Arnie could be said to be nine over par but he’s a no-bogey 59 in the fans’ hearts.

TaylorMade Burner SuperLaunch Iron & Rescue set

The Burner SuperLaunch line also moves at step further though, in addition to the traditional set of 8-irons a combination set is available with the 3- and 4-irons being replaced with the equivalent and easier to hit hybrids. MORE…

Meet Jack Nicklaus. Visit St. Andrews and play the Old Course. And earn a business degree from the only four-year golf management program in North America. These are few of the opportunities offered by Georgian College, located in Barrie, Ontario just north of Toronto, in their golf management degree program focusing on high-level positions in the golf industry.
The Bachelor of Business (Golf Management) program fills a void in golf post-secondary education by preparing graduates with financial, management and business skills to be successful as senior managers and executives in the golf industry.

“With the increasing sophistication of the golf business, post-secondary education was not keeping up with the demand for graduates who are capable of executive level decision-making and management capabilities, particularly around finance, human resources, and retail management,” said Brad Doey, program coordinator for Georgian’s golf management degree and two-year diploma programs. MORE…