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
Keith Kelly in the New York Post looks at Conde Nast's advertising slide but notes:
Only one magazine in its stable is showing a rise over a year ago: Golf World, a small circulation weekly, that is up 16.5 percent through the Feb. 23 issue.
And Sean Martin reports that despite executive upheaval and huge losses at Nationwide, the insurance giant is continuing its support of the PGA Tour’s developmental circuit:
John Aman, Nationwide’s associate vice president of strategic sponsorships, said he does not expect any “wholesale changes” to the company’s marketing approach.
“We remain committed to the Nationwide Tour, as well as our other sponsorships,” Aman told Golfweek. “That’s a question we’re getting asked across the board, and it’s part of what we think we need to do to be in the marketplace in a competitive insurance climate.”
Phil Kosin reports on and laments the loss of one of the premier stops on the Nationwide Tour. He explains how it had become such a nice annual gathering.
Ed Sherman offers this on his Chicago Business sports blog:
A Bank of America spokesman stressed the decision wasn't based on current economic conditions. Instead, he said it goes back to 2005, when the company decided to move away from title sponsorships in golf.
"This is consistent with what we're trying to do," the spokesman said.
He said the company will continue to sponsor the Bank of America Marathon in Chicago. That's great for runners, not so great for golf fans.
Well, Bank of America is off my list!
With the Nationwide Tour about to hold its first $1 million purse event, Brett Avery reviews how far it has come.
But the guts of the thing, the players, have changed appreciably. In early years PGA Tour players, obsessed with their status, equated demotion to a Siberian gulag. In a classic chicken-and-egg equation, the more PGA Tour players competed on the Hogan and Nike, the more robust those competitions—and the stronger the abilities of those reaching the big tour. Stewart Cink, one of the first to become a household name, was Nike player of the year in 1996 with three wins. By 1997 he was hoisting the Greater Hartford Open title on the PGA Tour, a victory he duplicated last month at TPC River Highlands.
The Nationwide test is far different now. The season begins with four foreign events, requiring 17,000-plus air miles, or about 30 percent more miles than the 1990 players drove for the entire year. Now few weeks allow driving so players hopscotch on flights. Success does not come cheap; even misers encounter $70,000 in expenses while equipment, apparel and visor contracts pay a fraction of the big tour.
Reid Edstrom, who competed on several mini-tours for a decade before reaching the Nationwide Tour this season, realizes the finances pale compared to the PGA Tour. He won a spot in Monday qualifying for the AT&T Classic outside of Atlanta, made the cut, "finished dead last and earned [almost] $10,500." An equivalent payout in a Nationwide-minimum purse of $500,000 is worth $1,200.
The final PGA Tour money list where the top 125 are fully exempt next year and the top 30 gets you in the Masters.
Kenny G is back at Ontario's Nationwide event to take up a spot that could be used by someone trying to make a living at this nutty game. But as Jill Painter reports, Kenny's got an album to plug.Kenny G used to own a plus-.6 handicap, but he's played only four or five rounds this year. He has used 2007 to focus on music and will release an album - "Rhythm and Romance" - on Valentine's Day next year. It's his first Latin album.That's saying a lot.
"I'm super excited," said Kenny G, who's sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. "When I made my first Christmas record, I made it because I couldn't find a Christmas record I liked. It's the same thing with the Latin record. There were a lot that I liked but not a lot I could put on and get into a certain vibe.
"This is very romantic and very rhythmical. It has a lot more tempo than most records I've done."
The tempo of his golf swing isn't Kenny G's only thing this week. He was scheduled to play a charity concert Tuesday night as part of the week's golf activities.Wow, and you thought the last Monday charity event you played in was a long day. Imagine 6 hours at Empire Lakes followed by a Kenny G concert?
"I'm totally flattered they think I can add some value to the tournament," he said. "My music performance raises money for charity, and I'm good enough (golfer) to not embarrass them by using a sponsor's exemption."
In all the euphoria over Monty's win last weekend, a reader noted that I failed to highlight the non-history making moment when the PGA Tour noted that Jason Day became the youngest player to win a "Tour-sponsored" event.
Chalk up another victory for an Australian on the Nationwide Tour, with 19-year-old Jason Day making history on Sunday by becoming the youngest player to win a PGA TOUR-sponsored event.
Okay fine...until this...
Day, at 19 years, seven months and 26 days, surpasses the previous youngest players to win on the two Tours -- including Johnny McDermott's (19 years, 10 months) win at the 1911 U.S. Open and James Oh's (21 years, 5 months and 27 days) victory at the 2003 Mark Christopher Charity Classic.
"To win at the age of 19 is a great accomplishment," said Day, who is also the Tour's youngest player. "This goes down in history. It is a great achievement to be the Tour's youngest winner."
Yes, that's right, we're retoractively lumping his win in with a U.S. Open win that wasn't even "Tour-sponsored" with the Nationwide Tour.
The guys are good!
How about Craig Kanada chipping in on each of the last two holes to win the Nationwide Championship and his PGA Tour card for 2007.
Five-year-old Barona Creek (No. 78 in Golfweek's Top 100 Modern) has overcome its dated back tee yardage to earn the right to host two Nationwide Tour Championships. Tod Leonard writes:
With a hotel/casino on site and plenty of room for corporate hospitality and the expected 5,000 spectators, Barona's only obstacle to getting a top-level event was its length. At 7,088 yards from the championship tees, it was deemed short for today's big hitters with high-tech clubs. In October's Collegiate Cup, for example, Denver's James Love shot a 10-under-par 62 in the first round and went on to card 15-under in three rounds.
But the club has made extensive renovations this fall, adding 12 new tees to lengthen the course to about 7,500 yards. Several jagged-edged bunkers – among the course's standout design traits – were added.
Architects mark the "turning point" of a hole during planning and construction to help them get a sense of scale and tee placement. Over the years the typical turning point has gone from 250 yards to 270 to 300 these days. Looks like 320 isn't out of the question if you are designing to host the next generation. Or
Check out these Nationwide Tour distance increases:
#1 in 2005 is Bubba Watson. He's picked up 13 yards from last year, to average, yes average, 336.4 yards this year. And that's on 78 drives, versus 61 last year.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
