When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
I guess you could say this is what it has come to for the Champions Tour, or perhaps a great way to, eh, errrr...deliver value though capacity de-activated engineering?
Blaine, Minn. (June 4, 2009) – Tournament officials with the 3M Championship, held July 10-12 in Blaine, Minn., announced today that the 2009 Champions Tour event will be free for the public. The tournament is the first ever free Champions Tour event with free admission, parking and shuttles.
“Giving back is the right thing to do,” said Hollis Cavner, tournament director. “We’ve received such tremendous support from fans and corporate partners over the past 17 years. We are thrilled that we have an opportunity to say thank you and provide this free gift to golf fans.”
“3M and its employees are thrilled to be part of this first in golf,” said Bob MacDonald, senior vice president, marketing, 3M “The 3M Championship has a long history of bringing firsts to the game of golf and today’s announcement is another example of the tournament’s continuing innovation.”
The 3M Championship is a golf tournament on the Champions Tour – a series of annual PGA TOUR golf events for golfers 50 years of age and older. The 3M Championship is played at the Tournament Players Club (TPC) Twin Cities, a course designed by professional golfer and golf course designer, Arnold Palmer. Joining Palmer at the 2009 3M Championship will be some of golf’s greats including Fred Funk, Lee Trevino, Nick Price, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hal Sutton and more.
The 3M Championship consistently ranks as one of the top Champions Tour events for crowds and charitable giving. Last year, the 3M Championship was voted the No.1 event on the Champions Tour by the players, earning the coveted Champions Tour Players Award.
And it would seem well positioned for a PGA Championship not too long after. Of course, when they play the Senior PGA in May, thunderstorms aren't the problem they are in August.
That's how I'm envisioning the magazine instruction piece, anyway. He shot 65 Friday and hit all 18 greens in the Administaff (is that a Champions Tour major too?).
Bean's clubs, including TaylorMade irons that were one of only 10 sets of the clubs manufactured, were stolen last month at the Greater Hickory Classic in North Carolina. He turned to a makeshift set that he initially didn't expect to keep long.
"I had those clubs for four years and I wouldn't have taken anything for them," Bean said. "But to tell you the truth, I've just played some very good golf the last month."
With the new clubs the next week, Bean tied for the first-round lead and finished third at the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C.
"I have hit so many good shots with these new clubs, I don't think I will go back," Bean said. "You'd think about changing back to the old clubs, but I have done really well with these."
Sal Maiorana nails it with this column on the over-the-top, one-dimensional setup at Oak Hill, though this won't win him any friends at the club or PGA of America.
There is no border. The line has been crossed.
It's too tough, and my fervent wish — wishful thinking is all it is, though — would be that the PGA of America trim the jungle-like rough this morning and give these players a chance to give the large galleries something to cheer about.
Sure, this has been a glorious week for Rochesterians as the hometown hero, Jeff Sluman, has been in contention since the opening bell Thursday and has a very real chance of pulling off a victory for the ages today.
However, let's be perfectly honest. Outside of rooting for Sluman and watching the Great White Shark, Greg Norman, make one of his rare tournament appearances with fiancée Chris Evert in tow, there hasn't been a whole lot of excitement at Oak Hill.
The answer to me is as clear as the rough is deep:
The rough is too deep.
When a ball ends up in the tall, thick, gnarly stuff, there really is no other choice but to hack it back into play somewhere in the fairway — if possible — and then try to save par, or more likely, make bogey.
It was the same thing back in 2003. Miss a fairway, forget birdie and thank your lucky stars if you can make par.
Most players aren't complaining. I'm complaining, and maybe some of the fans roaming the property are, too.
The players understand the course is brutally difficult, they aren't whining that the rough is too long and lush and they are more than willing to swallow their medicine when they drive their ball astray.They don't have to grind like this every week, especially on the Champions Tour, and believe it not, on the whole they seem to be enjoying the challenge that has been put forth.
That's great. I'm all for challenging the best players and making them work hard to earn this prestigious championship. I'm just not enamored with watching player after player gouge out of the rough after missing the fairway and then wedging onto green after green in search of a par.
It would be nice if, once in a while, someone had the option of making the bold play and trying to hit a risk-reward type of shot out of semi-playable rough in search of a birdie.
It was this kind of golf that I felt plagued the 2003 PGA Championship and turned that tournament into a snooze until Shaun Micheel hit his remarkable game-clinching 7-iron to within two inches at 18.
In a pair of blog posts (here and here), John Strege tries to figure out why so many geezers passed on the first of five senior majors at Oak Hill. Looking at the scores and word that the setup is entirely over the top, I think I know why.
Unfortunately, this somber tree-lined mess of rough and bad Fazio redesign work hosts the 2013 PGA. If this week is a preview, it's safe to say they haven't learned from the antics last time they hosted and will inevitably spawn another freak show finish.
That's right, Tiger beats out Bart Bryant and Denis Watson stops Brad Bryant in a playoff on the old geezers tour. Or did Tiger beat Brand Dennis beat Bart?
Anyway, Tiger also happened to match Ben Hogan's all time PGA Tour victory tally while winning his fifth official event in a row, and his sixth or seventh straight worldwide win, depending on whether you count the Target World Challenge.
But really, doesn't that pale when compared to stopping the Bryants?
Doug Ferguson's game story also includes these notes:
His average score during the PGA Tour streak is 66.13, and his dominance is such that he has more career victories than Mickelson and Vijay Singh combined.
Woods finished at 10-under 270 and earned $1,044,000, putting him on the cusp of going over $80 million for his career.
And because even the AP writer can't always get in the most important facts, Tiger's FedEx Cup points total is at 13,725, well ahead of Phil Mickelson.
Golf.com features the year in Tiger pictures spanning all, gulp, three starts.
The Valiant Competitor's Champions Tour has reversed it's Southern California stops this year, with the Toshiba Classic kicking things off followed by next week's AT&T something-or-other at Valencia. It's always amazing to witness the contrast between the two.
The Toshiba is played in the heart of Newport Beach at the sporty William F. Bell designed Newport Beach Country Club. The combination of the course's ideal location at the heart of a significant population base, it's ability to be played with relative ease (but it's no pushover) and a strong volunteer base make the event a real delight. It was day one of the pro-am and it would not be a stretch to call it festive.
Hanging out on the range today collecting quotes from select players, not only was most of the field out in force their pro-am rounds, but they were in great spirits. Hale Irwin smiled at me. Really, he smiles! Another highlight was Fuzzy Zoeller (not a surprise) heckling Tuesday qualifier Mac O'Grady about his hair, while Andy Bean (who knew?) strolling by the 10th tee and yelling out to Mac that his pro-am partner's swing was just fine and to leave him alone.
Then there's next week's event at Valencia, a monstrous Robert Trent Jones Sr. design next to the 5 freeway in that massive slice of over-development hell known as Santa Clarita, a solid 25 minute drive from a decent population base and 45 minutes from the heart of LA (mid-morning, with a police escort). The rough is always hideously dense, the course a brutal grind, the crowds tiny and the weather iffy. Players rarely hang around the range and every year I leave the place intensely depressed about what the game has become. Particularly since this same event was a huge success when played at Rancho Park and Wilshire Country Club in the city. You know, fun golf courses. Near where people live.
So just in case you were wondering, I probably won't be going out to Valencia this year.
According to Steve Eubanks, they expect 85,000 this week in Newport Beach, which would probably surpass what the regular tour drew at Riviera a few weeks ago.
Amazing how far a little fun will take you.
I've been searching my email box for a PGA Tour press release celebrating Mac O'Grady's first ever Champions Tour appearance (he played in the U.S. Senior Open in '05, but come on, that's not the CHAMPIONS TOUR).
Thankfully, the good folks at Brener-Zwikel delivered the news on the eve of...two shotgun pro-am starts, with Toshiba Classic play starting Friday at Newport Beach Country Club:
2008 Toshiba Classic Qualifying Tournament
At Goose Creek Golf Club (Par 71, 6,676 yards)
Mira Loma, Calif.
Tuesday, March 4
(Top 7 players qualify to play in the Toshiba Classic Friday-Sunday at Newport Beach CC)
Pos. Player Hometown Score
1. Jim Ahern Phoenix, AZ 64
T2. Phil Blackmar Corpus Christi, TX 65
T2. Boonchu Ruangkit Bangkok, Thailand 65
T2. Mitch Adcock Apopka, FL 65
T5. Mac O’Grady Palm Springs, CA 66
T5. Mike Goodes Reidsville, NC 66
T7. Kenny Knox Monticello, FL 67
(NOTE: Knox won the final qualifying spot with a par on the first playoff hole.)
Alternates
T7. Jimmy Powell La Quinta, CA 67
T7. Mark Morrison Holualoa, HI 67
T10. Dick Mast Forest, VA 68
T10. Gary Trivisonno Aurora, OH 68
Then again, Allianz winner Hoch is an entertaining interview so maybe I'm misjudging his potential to elevate the Valiant Competitors Tour.Apparently they wanted to wait until everyone had completely forgotten what a great event it once was to restore the format that only launched the Senior Tour. Bill Fields reports the news.
Seriously, how could it possibly take so long?
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
