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
Although the PGA Tour's announcement of a new Latin America developmental tour felt a bit rushed based on the announced timing and light details on how exactly players could work their way onto the Nationwide Tour, lost in this is just how seriously the PGA Tour is taking the Olympics.PGA TOUR Latinoamérica to kick-off inaugural season in 2012
Wow, only one cap on Latinoamérica...
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL (October 20, 2011)—The PGA TOUR announced today the creation of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, a professional tour initially consisting of 11 events played in seven countries across Latin America.
“We are delighted to announce the launch of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “This expansion into Latin America, when combined with what the Nationwide Tour has been able to accomplish in the region in recent year’s, is part of the natural progression for golf which continues to grow globally. We see this as an opportunity to help in the further development of elite players across the region. The timing is right, with South America hosting its first ever Olympic Games, which includes golf’s return to the competition for the first time in more than 100 years. The Latin American market has already produced several PGA TOUR stars, and one of our goals for this tour is to help develop the Latin American stars of the future.”
The 11-event schedule, the result of a collaborative effort among the PGA TOUR, Tour de Las Americas, National Golf Federations, promoters and host clubs in the region, will be contested from September through December 2012. In 2013, the plan is to have up to 14 events on the schedule. The events will take players through various parts of the region including Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru. A complete schedule will be released in the near future.
And now for the quote pile-on.
Alright, let's get to the takeaway here...
PGA TOUR Latinoamérica events will be 72-hole stroke play tournaments consisting of fields of up to 144 players. The fields will consist primarily of the top professionals in the region with the top money earners receiving access to the PGA TOUR’s Nationwide Tour the following year. The specifics of Nationwide Tour access will be disclosed next year prior to the start of the 2012 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica schedule.
Receiving access? Translation: details to be bickered over at upcoming player and policy board meetings.
From there, the release features a big quote pile-on that won't improve your day.
My knee-jerk takeaway?
The European Challenge Tour should stay away from Latin America, and, as Sean Martin noted when writing about this earlier this year, this should help get more South Americans world ranking points and therefore eligible for the 2016 Olympics. But as Martin notes in a new story on the announcement, discussions about those points have a ways to go.
...the word contest probably an unfortunate choice in that it cheapens things a bit, but I'll let you decide after reading the announcement. This is essentially as was reported in Golf World recently, again, without the "contest" word mentioned and sadly, it appears not period for the public to see the finalist entries.
The Solheim Cup finish was positively brilliant, as Brian Keogh recounts. But it wouldn't be a team match if there wasn't a controversy and I have to say, I like the rule in place that forced the U.S. to lose a full point when Cristie Kerr's wrist injury prevented her from playing Karen Stupples.
In the most recent Golf World, I penned an update and explanation about where the Olympic golf design derby stands after Danny Ocean Nick Faldo proposed his all-star major champions idea.
I also suggest that as with design competitions for museums or stadiums, it would be productive to see who the finalists are and what their vision is for the site.
Now about the site, CNN's Shane O'Donoghue looks at the course architect selection process and suggests a possible ownership dispute surrounding the venue for golf in Rio 2016:
I just wish I could be there the first time Sir Nick Faldo tries to talk strategy with an associate of Tom Fazio (Lord knows the great man wouldn't leave the country!) and he gets a bunch of nonsense about framing. But alas, the chances of Nick Faldo-Tom Fazio (or 18 major champions and Tom Fazio, with egos coordinated by the ego himself) doesn't stand much chance.An Around The Rings report checks in with the IGF's Ty Votaw who confirms that the timing is getting tight for selecting an architect and building a course in time for a 2015 test run prior to the '16 games. Votaw told Around The Rings, “We'll have an architect selected by the end of the year barring any unforeseen circumstances.”
And in response to Greg Norman's criticism that the Olympic course is cutting the timing a little too close for comfort:
Votaw added that the process is “probably taking a little longer than we anticipated. I would agree with Greg's assessment in terms of the time frame, and we conveyed that same information to him, which is why we agree with him.”
Steve Elling with excerpts of Nick Faldo's letter to the International Golf Federation pitching a mass collaboration of some of the biggest do-nothings on the planet: player-architects.
Though short on specifics as to how this boondoggle would work (since many of these people couldn't find one of their projects with a GPS device), it sounds as if Sir Nick is suggesting the Olympic course design consist of a collaboration of many appearance fee specialists.
"What a tremendous, ongoing, global and historic story we could write for our sport as a truly international team of men's and women's champions create the venue for golf's return to the Olympics in 2016. Certainly some of the most-respected course designers in the world come from a global pool of the most-recognized champions.
"It is understood that the complexity of the site and the demands of the Olympic event would necessitate a unified and experienced process architecturally; as they say, egos should be checked at the door, but please imagine the worldwide interest and appeal this Olympic course as the truest collaboration of men's and women's champions -- from every continent.
As long as we can see a reality show out of it, I'm in!
"Consider for yourself, the major-champion designers from the continents of Africa, Australia, Europe, North America, South America and Asia.
Oh let's not.
The announcement of this collaboration alone would generate true and positive worldwide interest and press in a truly Olympic story."
Until you actually all try to coordinate your site visits, assuming some of the lugs (Faldo not included) even know what a site visit entails!
Let's hope Larry Olmsted's solution to the Olympic Golf Course design commission puzzle is not adopted. Then again, it would make a fantastic documentary and study of clashing egos!
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
