“Today’s professionals are bigger, stronger, fitter, have more technology at their command, and it’s very important that we keep our great links courses relevant to the modern-day professional"

Some day they'll look back and say, wow, the R&A changed courses to mask their regulatory incompetence. But surely they were discreet about it, right?

For Immediate Publication

THE R&A ANNOUNCES COURSE CHANGES AT TURNBERRY’S AILSA COURSE

21 APRIL 2009, Turnberry, Scotland: In advance of the 2009 Open Championship, Turnberry’s Ailsa Course has undergone a number of adjustments designed to ensure that, as one of Britain’s finest links, it continues to challenge modern professionals. The most extensive changes are on the 10th, 16th and 17th holes, though most have been enhanced in some way.

“Today’s professionals are bigger, stronger, fitter, have more technology at their command, and it’s very important that we keep our great links courses relevant to the modern-day professional,” explained The R&A’s Chief Executive, Peter Dawson. “We’ve been doing that at every Open venue, with Turnberry having had a considerable number of changes since the 1994 Open Championship.”

Thankfully, circa 2002 Major League Baseball owners never declared that the players were bigger, stronger, fitter with more technology at their command, therefore, proudly announcing that they extended the Green Monster skyward 40 feet and spent millions to alter their ballparks so that the lads can keep injecting their rear ends!

The 10th has been redesigned to bring the coastline into play and now requires at least a 200-yard carry over the rocks from a tee perched on an outcrop by the lighthouse. The fairway has been moved closer to the beach to tempt longer players to cut off more of the corner, and three new fairway bunkers force a decision to be made between safer tee-shot with a longer approach or a riskier, braver and more aggressive drive.

Significant changes have also taken place at the 16th and 17th. The shape of the 16th has been radically altered and it now dog-legs right from a re-positioned tee around newly-created dunes and hollows. 45 yards have been added along with a new bunker on the left of the fairway. The bunker, which used to guard the left side of the old fairway, now protects the right edge of the new one.

The realignment of the 16th has allowed a new back tee to be constructed on the 17th, extending the hole by 61 yards. A newly-constructed approach bunker, along with another to the front and left of the putting surface, adds difficulty to the second shot.

Including those on the 10th and 16th, a total of 23 bunkers have been added on holes 1, 3, 5, 8, 14 and 18, with two removed at the 3rd and 14th, making players think more about their course management strategy.

Uh no. They are intended to make players leave driver in their bag so you don't have to regulate equipment.

Though many Open Championship courses have upwards of 120 bunkers, Turnberry still only has 65, testament to the natural test that the landscape provides.

New tees have also been introduced at holes 3, 5, 7, 8, 14, and 18, extending the course to 7204 yards, 247 yards or 3.5% longer than when The Open was last played at Turnberry in 1994.

Shocker: R&A's Dawson Says Golf In For Rough Year Ahead

It's good to know the R&A is on top of things, as always. Mike Aitken fills us in on Peter Dawson's dire warning:

"I don't think we've seen the bottom of this and I don't think anyone is immune," said Dawson. "I'm no economic forecaster, but it's hard to see the situation turning around quickly. There may be quite a way to go.

"I think people who are members of golf clubs will be thinking twice about their subscriptions. Like everything else which is discretionary (spending], people will ask, 'Do I need to buy a new driver this year?' All these things will contract."

I tell ya, he is a visionary.

Aitken also files this piece on the state of club golf in Scotland, where memberships are not being renewed at a disturbing pace.

Governing Body Reigning In Technology...

As Lisa Dillman reports (thanks reader Scott), the folks overseeing swimming have had enough of hi-tech suits. Inspiration for our friends in Far Hills and St. Andrews:

Among the proposals was that FINA establish its own independent control and testing program. Swimsuit makers can make submissions for approval of suits until March 31. The next major meet of significance is the world championships in Rome, starting July 18.

"With these amendments, FINA shows that it continues to monitor the evolution of the sport's equipment with the main objective of keeping integrity of sport," FINA President Mustapha Larfaoui said in a statement.

Greetings From L.A., 63-72-62 Edition

A 5 a.m. wake up call afforded me the chance to:

(A) watch John Mutch set up the back nine so Phil Mickelson could torch it in 30 for a 62 to follow his 63-72

(B) check out the huge sucker hole location on No. 10 that Mutch thought might be too easy but, for a second year in a row, proved way too deceiving for the majority of today's bomb and think about the consequences later

(C) think long and hard about the need to compliment the first rate media food service with a small nap area here in our media hanger for these soft, overcast, muggy days after a nice hot lunch. I'm thinking clear booths like the radio people passed on using this week so we can all see who just couldn't stay away any longer and had to lie down.Phil Mickelson after missing his birdie try on 18 that would have tied the course record (click to enlarge)

The chances are slim since last year's pleas to restore the manual scoreboard on 18 were ignored. The chances will dim even further next year when PGA Tour Championship Management steamrolls over any semblance of non-corporate aesthetics and local flavor in favor of sterility, so I guess I'll just curl up under a tree next time sleep beckons.

Fred Couples tee off on No. 9 (click on image to enlarge)Thankfully the golf was lively today, with the overcast skies apparently making it easier for players to see, as Fred Couples talked about in his enjoyable post round press conference. The cloud cover added a little "stick" to the greens in Mutch's word as we drove around and boy did the players respond. Mind you the greens were still pretty firm but just a shade slower and receptive.

Now, I know I beat this 10th hole thing to death, but watching today and witnessing the nearly endless stream of mindless shots reminded me why it is so fun and vital in gauging a player's ability. Because Riviera's 10th consistently shines a big nasty light on the course management ineptitude of today's modern golfer (look how few layed up left with a sucker front hole location in the ShotLink image right).Shotlink dispersion chart for Saturday's third round play (click to enlarge)

Robert Allenby and Fred Couples were tied for the lead after 10 holes (click to enlarge)Ah but you'll say, note that Couples hit it way right off the tee, a big no-no for a veteran. I asked about that and he explained after the round. His comments might shed some light on why he has so much success at Riviera:

Q. Talking about your love of the golf course, and the great architecture, on 10, you laid up very far to the right. Can you talk about how you approach the 10th hole all the time, and why you played that shot today?

FRED COUPLES: I shanked that shot today. (Laughter).

But to be honest with you, every day I try and go further left than people think. And very rarely do I hit driver there.

But over the years, I've played it really, really well. And I try and go this way.

And today in my mind, I knew where the pin was and I tried to go further to the right and then I told myself even further, and I just kind of luckily was in the fairway. If it had gone another yard to the right in the rough, I would have had no shot. But I hit a great little 75yard shot in there to stop it. But that's a tough, tough hole.

To recap for the 8 milionth time, the strategy is simple: play left in some way, either driving the green or laying up and you will be okay. Right is DEAD!!

CBS's 10th hole graphic says it all (click to enlarge)Just check out the killer ShotLink graphic CBS ran today on the six years of stats compiled under the system.

As for Mickelson's incredible round, the 7 one-putt day on the back side was nice but I was most astonished by just how far he is hitting his tee shots. Since the USGA and R&A keep saying distance has been capped, Phil's comments were interesting:

Q. How much longer are you hitting it with your new driver than previous drivers?

PHIL MICKELSON: It's a noticeable difference for me. When I say noticeable, it's 12 yards. I mean, that's a big difference for me. Being able to get eight, nine yards for carry, that's a really big difference. I mean, usually it would be two or three yards and you would notice a difference. This is a big difference for me.

The biggest thing, though, is that I'm able to work shots, hit cuts, draws, low shots, rather than just one standard shot.

And finally in media center news, the turnout was cut by more than half with Ryo's departure, but that still didn't stop a modified sign from being posted for those who apparently chose to smoke in the portable toilets.Women's restroom sign at the media center (click to enlarge)

I wonder what PGA Tour Championship Management would make of that handmade sign?

"How dreadful that they are all the same."

I'm not the only one who spotted the irony in Peter Dawson's justification of the R&A's membership practices, as Derek Lawrenson writes:

Quote of the Week: "Golf is a very broad church, and there is plenty of room for every sort of golf club. It would be dreadful if we were all the same."

Chief Executive Peter Dawson's hilarious defence of the men-only status of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.

Coming in May: the announcement of the next captain of the R&A, who will be a white male, aged sixty-something, privately-educated, grey-haired, and an ex-CEO.

How dreadful that they are all the same.

"Tradition or otherwise, the R&A has developed a habit of ignoring history, even its own, when it wants to."

Finally, someone is scrutinizing the R&A...wait, oh, it's not for redesigning courses in lieu of distance regulation or rendering the Road hole unrecognizeable?

Lawrence Donegan reports on Scotland's senior most politician calling for an end to "chauvinistic" attitudes after not offering a membership to Dr. Louise Richardson, new St. Andrews University principal. Her predecessors were given R&A memberships.

"The Royal and Ancient Golf Club should follow their long-standing practice of offering membership to the Principal of St Andrews University and I am sure that after due consideration they will continue with that honourable tradition," the first Minister said today.

It is highly unusual for a politician of Salmond's seniority to become embroiled in the affairs of a sporting club but the politician is also a keen golfer who has long taken an interest in the health of the sport. He was joined in his criticism by Claire Baker, a Labour member of the Scottish parliament, who said Dr Richardson should be accorded the same courtesy and privileges as her male predecessors.

"It's more than 500 years since Mary Queen of Scots became the first woman to tee off at the home of golf but it seems that the Royal and Ancient is still stuck in the middle ages. It is high time the fuddy-duddies who run the club put their chauvinist attitudes to one side and joined the 21st century," she said tonight.

“A union of uncompromised originals”

...uncompromised? The R&A? Aren't they the ones who change courses instead of the equipment rules? Anyway, score one for the USGA...

The R&A and SABMiller plc today announced that they have enteredinto a long term agreement under which Pilsner Urquell, the iconic beer brand from SABMiller, will become the Official Beer of The Open Championship.

The arrangement is effective from the upcoming 2009 Championshipat Turnberry and will last for five years, taking in confirmed future Championships at St Andrews, Royal St George’s and Royal Lytham and St Annes.

Vinod Giri, International Brand Director of SABMiller plc said, “The heritage, authenticity and premium nature of The Open Championship offer fantastic synergies for Pilsner Urquell. Both brands are the original, uncompromised leaders in their fields and set the gold standard. We are excited by this partnership, and look forward to building a long and successful association with The R&A.”

David Hill, R&A Director of Championships, said, “The R&A is delighted to welcome Pilsner Urquell as the Official Beer of The Open Championship. I’m sure spectators at this year’s Open at Turnberry will be delighted that such an iconic beer is available throughout the Open Championship site.”

Yes, especially since getting to the property will induce migraines.

"Probably the most difficult name I ever had to tackle was Mark Calcavecchia at Troon. I made sure I checked that out a few times!"

Marvin Collins on Alex Harvey, long-time Claret Jug engraver Alex Harvey, who passed away at 83.

After bowing out at St Andrews in 2005, Alex recalled: "Probably the most difficult name I ever had to tackle was Mark Calcavecchia at Troon. I made sure I checked that out a few times!"

Harvey relished the day he engraved Paul Lawrie's name on the trophy at Carnoustie. "It was nice to see his name going on the trophy and not just because he's a Scot. I'd known him for years," he said. "My son Garry knew him and they'd played together on Tour."

Harvey recalled his swansong, with Tiger Woods triumphant at the home of golf. "It was a wonderful tournament, with Jack Nicklaus and I both retiring! In a way I was glad he bowed out on the Friday, otherwise he might have stolen my thunder."

ESPN Secures Rights To Open, R&A "Envisaging The Platforms"

I love that they are doing the Walker Cup when it's in the British Isles. 

Okay ladies and gentleman, roll up your sleeves and tell us about those platforms and other delivery mechanisms. 

For Immediate Publication

THE R&A AND ESPN REACH WIDE-RANGING EIGHT-YEAR AGREEMENT FOR THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

All Four Rounds on ESPN Beginning in 2010 - Expansive Content for Digital Platforms and Expanded International Rights

13 November 2008, St Andrews, Scotland:  The R&A, the organiser of The Open Championship, and ESPN have reached an eight-year agreement that will place all four rounds of The Open Championship live on ESPN beginning in 2010, it was announced by George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN, Inc., and ABC Sports and Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A. 

The new pact will also provide broad and comprehensive rights for digital platforms; expanded television and digital media rights for ESPN International; and extensive same-day weekend highlights coverage on ABC. 

ESPN will televise 34 live hours of Championship play over the four days and produce six hours of encore highlights coverage over the weekend, to be broadcast on ABC.  The coverage on ABC will extend The R&A’s relationship with ABC beyond half a century.

Bodenheimer said: “One of the most venerable of all sporting events has embraced the 21^st century worldwide media landscape, and we’re thrilled to showcase The Open Championship like never before.  The scope of this deal and the enhancements we obtained offer us tremendous opportunities to serve The R&A and golf fans around the world through any device.”

Dawson said: "It is all important to The R&A that we preserve the traditions of The Open Championship while at the same time ensuring that golf fans are able to enjoy modern state-of-the-art coverage of the event.  We know just how much ESPN respects The Open's heritage and we are very excited by their many innovative plans to cover the Championship across the whole media spectrum, both in the United States and internationally.  We look forward to a long and productive relationship."

Alastair Johnston, IMG Vice Chairman, who led the negotiating team representing The R&A said, "We had to consider not only the financial terms but The R&A's overall mission to promote and develop the game of golf to an evolving global audience.  Envisaging the platforms where a younger generation could be positively influenced to experience The Open Championship over the next decade was a significant factor in assembling this arrangement with ESPN."

Envisaging the platforms...take that Finchem!

The deal also includes exclusive US coverage of all rounds of The Senior Open Championship, which is governed jointly by The R&A and the PGA European Tour, and coverage of the next two Walker Cup matches when contested in the United Kingdom (2011 and 2015).  In all, there will be 90-plus television hours and 40-plus hours of live coverage on ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV.  ESPN will provide unprecedented live coverage of the Championships, including the first and second rounds of The Open Championship, which will begin at 5 a.m. ET.  

Wow...now the EST folks will understand what us PST types were going through. Kind of. 

"All I would say is that Turnberry would have to give a lot of consideration to giving up their course to host the European Open"

Douglas Lowe shines a light on the R&A's latest act of hypocrisy reports that the R&A is not thrilled about Leisurecorp considering the European Open for years that Turnberry does not host the Open Championship.

David Hill, the R&A's director of championships, said at a news conference at Turnberry: "I don't think it would be ideal from the Open Championship's point of view if there was a European Open here for the next nine years. That doesn't mean to say that the European Open couldn't come here occasionally, but that's very much up to the Dubai team."

Key word there: Dubai.

Now, isn't the Open Championship played at a course that hosts an enormously tacky pro-am each fall? Oh yes, Mr. Lowe I didn't mean to steal your thunder:

Hill said the same principle applied to all other Open venues - Carnoustie, Royal Troon, Muirfield and St Andrews in Scotland and Royal St George's, Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham and Hoylake in England - except for St Andrews, which stages the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship every October.

"St Andrews is unique," he said. "It has lots of other courses, the Dunhill comes right at the end of the season, and St Andrews is the home of golf. Basically, if you look at the other venues, having the Open there gives us lots of marketing kudos as part of our relationships and these courses are also hosting the Amateur Championship, Senior British Open and Women's British Open from time to time. So already these clubs are hosting a lot of events.

"All I would say is that Turnberry would have to give a lot of consideration to giving up their course to host the European Open as an annual event and be aware that if they did that they probably wouldn't get the Senior British Open, Women's British Open and Amateur Championship, and therefore leave a question mark over the Open."

Wow, such subtle blackmail.

"Without saying too much, we are pleased with the progress we're making."

I know it's ESPN and this is pocket change, but I continue to be astounded by the dollar figure being reported as a possible Open Championship rights fee, noted in this case by Mike Aitken:

An imminent new American TV deal, thought to be worth around $25 million a year, will aid the Royal and Ancient, the organisers of the Open, in a bid to keep admission costs down for spectators at the only major championship held outside the US.

After confirming yesterday that ticket prices for the 2009 Open at Turnberry, as well as prices on site for catering and merchandise, will be kept at the same level as this year's championship at Birkdale, David Hill, the R&A's director of championships, revealed the organisation is close to clinching a new agreement for TV rights in the USA.

"At least 60 per cent of our income comes from television revenues," he explained. "All our key contracts are in place. As we speak we are re-negotiating in America. Without saying too much, we are pleased with the progress we're making." 

"How much will the rule alter performance?"

Before the Ryder Cup news takes over, let's not forget the grooves. In last week's Golf World, Mike Stachura raised some interesting questions about the validity of the rule change for 2010.

Second, if several popular irons already in use on the PGA Tour are said by their manufacturers to have groove patterns that already conform to the new rule (Titleist, Cobra, Adams and Ping have irons that may meet the new requirements), how much will the rule alter performance? And if the answer turns out to be not all that much, what is the USGA's next move?

It starts with a b and ends with an l and would have been much easier to change.

I do believe that Adam Scott has been playing conforming grooves all year, and suspect many others have. If so, Stachura's point would seem to kill the case that a groove chance would reduce the amount of flogged drives.

Then there is manufacturer research that says the shot that might be affected most is the pinched wedge from the fairway. Does it not seem odd that a rule meant to restore the value for hitting the ball in the fairway might result in less effective shots from the short grass? 

Oh great, another reason to narrow fairways. Just what the game needs.

Oakland Hills: 2008 PGA vs. 1996 U.S. Open

In the post PGA coverage, Brett Avery offers a rather astounding chart in the Golf World stat package (PDF).

Now I'm in favor of the groove rule change because it has the potential to restore the importance of firm greens, but will only be meaningful if an increase in fairway width comes with it.

However, the USGA and R&A continue to contend that armed with V-grooves, the world's best will be forced to respect rough and therefore they will have to throttle back in an attempt to hit more fairways. In other words, it's a backdoor way of rolling back distance increases. I still believe it's pure fantasy, but hey, if it makes them happy and leads to other positives, so be it.

Yet no study has determined how much fairway narrowing has played a role in the driving accuracy decreases so regularly cited as the cause for regulating grooves.

So here we have Oakland Hills, host to the 1996 U.S. Open and on the cusp of the distance explosion, and again host to the 2008 PGA where a remodel narrowed fairways and rough was farmed and coifed.

The 2008 field median was 30 yards longer off the tee than in 1996 while the fairway's hit median dropped 8 fairways.

The governing bodies would like us to believe that these dramatic increases in distance and decreases in accuracy are a result of players finding themselves armed with U-grooves that persuades them to flog drives with reckless disregard for the awful fairway contours crafted to take driver out of their bag.

Seems in the case of Oakland Hills that the radically improved driver/ball combination (oh and of course, the increased athleticism!) along with a further reduction in width since 1996 was likely much more significant than the grooves in fostering such radical differences in distance and accuracy.

"Wouldn't it be fun if the possibility really existed that Tiger might have hit his approach out of the light rough on the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open over the green?"

I'm still collecting my thoughts on the groove announcement (hey, I've only had a year). But Bug and Gnat over at GolfDigest.com chime in with a couple of questions that have been, uh, bugging me too, though maybe for different reasons. First, Bug (E. Michael Johnson):

How are they going to enforce this rule and what happens if it doesn't have the desired effect of restoring accuracy as an important part of the pro game?

There is a very good chance this will only have a minor impact, which gets us back to the ball study. Which I'm sure is moving right along.

And enforcement wise, I suspect the USGA testing department gurus have developed an easy way to test. I hope.

Then Gnat (Mike Stachura) asks:

Wouldn't it be fun if the possibility really existed that Tiger might have hit his approach out of the light rough on the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open over the green?

Actually no, and it was something I contemplated while standing there watching Tiger lined up that now famous birdie putt. I wondered how much his shot spinning back was influenced by grooves and how much was the result of his swing speed and personal Nike ball. I hope for future viewing interest the grooves played no role, because even the governing bodies must know that the backspin he imparted on that ball helped make for one of the great moments in golf history.