Tiger is #1
I had lunch today with Vity Gomes, the #2 guy in Canada at Nike Golf. Any time spent with Vity is always enjoyable and the conversation is wide ranging, stimulating and I always learn something. Amongst the notable facts I gleaned today was that Tiger Woods has just surpassed Michael Jordan as the most recognizable athlete in the world.
That’s significant from a number of angles. It’s amazing that Jordan still held onto the number one position despite being retired as a player for several years. That a golfer has taken his place is also quite a feat given the high international profile of sports like soccer (David Beckham, Rinaldo); tennis (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal); and Formula One racing.
Tiger Woods has become a brand. How much it’s worth is anybody’s guess. He annually tops the list of highest paid athletes when you include on and off course earnings. He has his own clothing line within the Nike empire, his own shoe line, a foundation, a new PGA Tour event, a new golf course design business and probably a lot more. Putting the Tiger Woods name on something is more than just money in the bank – it’s world wide recognition of excellence.
Ten years ago Tiger was just a kid golfer who had three consecutive US Amateurs titles, today number 1 athlete in the world. Amazing what a load of talent and some very smart marketing people can accomplish in a decade. I can’t imagine where it all goes from here.
Executive Dysfunction
Rumour has it that the RCGA is close to naming a new Executive Director. I don’t know who it is but I’m already discouraged. Don’t take that the wrong way. There are good people out there capable of running a national sports association and I’m sure the new Executive Director will be top-notch. However, it sure looks like the new ED is being put into a hapless situation where everyone is counting on him (or her) to fix everything that is wrong with the RCGA.
During the search process, not once did I hear anybody talking about changing the culture of the RCGA, establishing a new mandate or altering the structure so it can be more effective. Is the new ED expected to be an agent of change ie a short term guy who shakes things up, gets things moving in the right direction, then takes off for another challenge? Or is he supposed to be another manager – someone who pours oil on the water and carries on for a 20 year period. We all know that change agents make lousy managers and good managers rarely shake things up.
Here’s a short list of a few key items that will be facing the guy in the fancy office on the 2nd floor at Golf House:
1. Find a title sponsor for the Canadian Open or figure out an alternative way to makie it work. The Open is the single most important thing the RCGA does. It makes a connection with golfers all across the country, showcases golf in Canada internationally and is a defining moment in Canadian golf every year. Not to mention it helps fund a lot of other RCGA programs.
2. Establish a mandate for the RCGA that makes sense. Figure out what it is that the RCGA is supposed to do. As it is now the RCGA is into all sorts of areas that conflict with their members and other golf organizations in the country, the Skins loyalty program being the latest. Then extract the RCGA from all businesses and programs that aren’t part of the core objectives.
3. Figure out how to effectively represent and communicate with all golfers in the country. If the RCGA is the “governing body of amateur golf in Canada” then the RCGA needs to connect with golfers on the East and West coasts who feel like the Association is an Ontario-centric body. The RCGA also needs to figure out how to connect with the 5 million golfers who aren’t RCGA members. (Of the roughly 5-6 million golfers in Canada, only 400,000 are members of the RCGA).
Hopefully the Board has used the past four months to come up with a plan to resolve these and many other issues and are just waiting for the new guy to start so he can execute the plan. If they’re waiting for the new guy to develop a plan, the why does the RCGA need thirty Directors?
The new Executive Director will have one chance to make a great first impression. To do that he’ll need to come out swinging - demonstrate decisive leadership, make some bold announcements and reach out to other organizations that have been trampled by the RCGA to date. If he comes out with one of those wishy washy statements about looking forward to meeting the staff, finding out where the washroom is and working with the Board to develop a meaningful plan moving forward, then golfers all across the country will throw up their hands in frustration. I know I would.
Weekly Odds & Sods
A couple of Canadians are near the top of the Leaderboard with one round to go today. Jon Mills sits alone in third spot down in Knoxville and has been playing well. Freelance writer Craig Loughry penned a story on Jon’s progress this year for the Early Summer issue of Fairways which will be out next week. Jon essentially had no status on any Tour at the beginning of the season. He failed to keep his card on the PGA Tour last year and didn’t get past the second stage of Q-school in the Fall so didn’t have exempt status on the Nationwide Tour either. As a past champion he was assured of getting into some events and has made the most of it. It would be neat to “stop the presses” as they used to say and add a footnote to Craig’s story if Jon wins today.
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A.J. Eathorne is also near the top of the Leaderboard (T4) at the Wegmans LPGA event in Pittsford, NY. AJ has had a very strange year. In quite a number of cases she has fashioned one real good round, then blown up. Something like 68-81. This week she has been very consistent with rounds of 72-71-69. It’s been a while since A.J. has contended so here’s hoping she can find the nerves that made her such a dominant force in her junior and amateur days.
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The best Canadian player on the LPGA Tour this year has been Alena Sharp. She’s made more cuts and more money than the rest of the Canadian women and has steadily improved since she got status on the Tour last year. As an amateur and then playing as a pro on the West Coast Tour, Alena had a lot of victories so she knows how to win and has done it at every level except the current one. I think it’s just a matter of time.
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The competition on these pro tours is vicious. Yesterday Vancouver’s Bryn Parry started the day tied for 4th and shot 74, 2-over. That dropped him to a tie for 40th spot. A similar thing happened to Alena Sharp. She also started the day in 4th, shot 77 and fell all the way to 36th. One mediocre round and there are a lot of good players passing you going in the other direction. Because the payouts drop so dramatically once you’re out of the top 5, it’s tough to move up the money list without a win or several top 5 finishes. A lot of Canadians find themselves needing some good finishes during the balance of this season.
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I spent a few hours watching the final round of the Copa de las Americas tournament at Beacon Hall yesterday. (USA won, Team Canada finished 3rd). The course was in spectacular condition and playing without the 25 MPH wind from Friday’s third round. Our women’s team finished runner-up to the US squad. Laura Matthews has been a dominant amateur for the past few years with a couple of National titles to her credit. She shot 2-under yesterday to cap off a so-so week. However it was Stephanie Sherlock who pushed the two US girls all week and played some of her best golf. She started the day in second spot in the individual race and her 79 dropped her into a 3rd place tie. After a year of college golf, Stephanie has matured into a strong player.
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Too bad the GAO and the RCGA couldn’t schedule things better this week. The Ontario Women’s Amateur was played at Rocky Crest (congratulations to 15-year old Rebecca Lee-Bentham for winning) while the Copa tournament was on at Beacon Hall. I suppose it’s just 2 girls in question but 2 of the top ranked amateurs in the province had to skip the Amateur while representing their country.
Same thing happened on the men’s side with the Canadian Club Champions event in Gibson’s, BC and the Ontario Mid Am at Dalewood. Rob Cowan of Westmount and Mark Brewer of Whitevale went west (Brewer lost in a play-off, Cowan tied for 9th) while Dave Bunker won the Mid Am. Both Brewer and Cowan are top ranked amateurs and should have been available for the Mid Am.
Hnatiuk back on Tour?
Lots of Canadians near the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the Nationwide Tour’s Knoxville event including Jon Mills tied for fourth and David Morland tied for 9th. Interesting to see Glen Hnatiuk also in the mix. He shot 1-under and sits T34. I thought Hnatiuk had packed it in after a couple of years of lingering injuries and so-so results. When you look at his record over a 7-8 year period from the late 90′s through 2003, Glen had a pretty solid career and made over $4 million in Tour earnings. I met Glen a few years back at one of the Altamira Charity events and would see him at Canadian Opens and other events. Quiet guy but always approachable and ready with a quip or funny story from the Tour. He always seemed obsessed with his latest swing change or some fix he was working on. I don’t know whether playing this week is an attempt at a comeback or just a one-stop outing but I’ll find out. If he’s going to play regularly that’s great news for Canadian golf. Glen is one of the good guys and does a lot for golf in this country, especially junior golf.
Stymied by traffic
My plan was to attend the Skins Game today at Lora Bay, especially the press conference at 3 PM. That idea went downhill quickly after being stuck on Highway 400 for over an hour due to a major accident somewhere ahead of me. As luck would have it I was between Highway 88 & 89 when they closed 400 in both directions. Most of the northbound cars including me managed to drive through the ditch, up an incline and onto a sideroad. Needless to say, all of the sideroads were jammed as everybody was seeking an alternate route. I finally got back to the office 2 1/2 hours after I left. It was a round trip of 30 kilometers. (I still don’t have any details on the accident but the sketchy info on the radio made it sound pretty nasty.)
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I’ll try again tomorrow to get up to Lora Bay but in the meantime some final thoughts on the US Open.
1. If the USGA is going to set up the US Open course in such a punitive, restrictive manner, why do they bother going to such diverse courses as Pinehurst, Pebble Beach or Winged Foot and then making them all play the same way? That’s not the way those courses normally play. They might just as well find a permanent home at some muni where they can grow thigh high rough and turn potato chip greens into marble.
2. It seems to me that thinking is at least half of playing well. The way the US Open is set up removes thinking from the game and turns it into a contest of who can execute a stipulated shot best. There are no options for players. I’m not talking about 3-wood versus driver as an option. I’m talking about alternative routes to the hole, preferred angles of attack and risk/reward options. The US Open gives you 2 alternatives – hit it in the skinny fairway or take the alternate route through the rough. The latter guarantees an early exit from the tournament.
3. When did greens stimped at over 12 become part of “determining the best golfer in the world?” I can’t fathom an explanation that makes any sense.
4. This year The Masters borrowed a page from the USGA and stifled all possibility of a rally or aggressive play. Not a direction I’m pleased with. Thankfully, at The Open Championship they still let them play golf.
5. Congratulations to Angel Cabrera! I know how much it meant to Canadian golf when Mike Weir won the Masters. El Pato’s victory will mean just as much if not more to Argentina.
Weekly Odds & Sods
The US Open got marginally more interesting in Round 3. There were a few birdies and even one eagle! Still only two scores under par. There is no way the US Open should be considered a test to find the best golfer. It is, and has been as long as I can remember, a test of who can drive the ball the straightest. Sometimes the best player does win – Nicklaus, Player, Els, Woods but too often a US Open specialist wins – Hale Irwin (3), Andy North (2), Lee Janzen (2). In the case of the latter two in particular, neither ever showed that they had the skill under any other conditions to be considered the best in the game.
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The Canadian Skins Game goes Monday and Tuesday at Lora Bay near Collingwood. The field is as good as it gets for one of these made for sponsors TV events. Monty, Retief Goosen, Geoff Ogilvy, John Daly and Stephen Ames comprise an international field unlike any other Skins game. Congratulations to IMG for pulling that together. If any of the Skins players is involved in a US Open playoff on Monday, the Skins game will play with a reduced number for the first nine, then add that player to the mix for the second nine on Tuesday. Right now Ames is the only one near the lead. How good would it be to have the reigning US Open champion in Collingwood the day after winning? I’ll be there both days and will report on the game, the players and JD’s face.
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The CN Canadian Women’s Tour Ontario Championship is also played on Monday and Tuesday this week at the delightful Settler’s Ghost course near Horseshoe Valley. The field this year will be lacking a bit of star power as the Futures Tour has a major scheduled so defending champion Salimah Mussani and a few others won’t be there. However there are still a lot of excellent players to watch including some up and coming locals. Admission is free.
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Another event in the GTA later this week is the Copa de las Americas event at Beacon Hall Golf Club. This tournament pits international teams from over a dozen countries against each other in stroke play format. Beacon Hall was designed by Bob Cupp over twenty years ago and is perennially ranked amongst the top courses in Canada. Intensely private, only a few outsiders get a chance to play Beacon Hall but if you can wangle an invitation, this is one of the best.
Is Oakmont fair?
The commentators on the TV telecast for the US Open keep telling us that Oakmont is “fair.” If you look up fair in the dictionary there are many meanings and uses.
Fair; as in light haired or blonde. Lots of jokes about dumb blondes. Blondes are laughingly referred to as stupid. The conditions at Oakmont are stupid. OK, I guess it’s fair.
Fair; as in a state fair. With pie eating contests, dunking tanks and games of skill and chance. OK so far. Also, like a circus. Definitely on track now although no-one yet is sure who the clowns are.
Fair; as in doesn’t favour one side or the other. Right again. It penalizes everybody equally.
So what we have is a stupid flippin’ circus that is kicking the crap out of everybody. It’s the USGA’s version of the neutral zone trap – all defense, no scoring. If that’s what I wanted to watch I’d flip on the soccer channel.
Not the same old Grind
Yesterday Mill Run GC in Uxbridge had a little shindig for members, local dignitaries and the media and I had the opportunity to play their newest nine. It’s called The Grind which is consistent with the other two nines, which are known as The Grist and The Wheel (all milling terms).
The Grind was designed by Jason Miller whose name may not be familiar to a lot of golfers in the GTA but Jason designed North Granite Ridge near Huntsville, worked with Graham Cooke on Osler Brooke in Collingwood and is currently working on Talisman in the Beaver Valley.
The Grind is a very odd layout. Due to a number of environmental restrictions related to the Oak Ridges Moraine Act, Grind had to be fitted into and around the existing 18 championship holes at Mill Run. As a result it is not a nine that you want to walk. There are a couple of very long treks through woodlands up the moraine and down again.
Miller explained that he had some major frustrations with the Moraine people when building the course. For instance he was told that several hundred acres of meadow land on the Mill Run property couldn’t be developed but it was OK to cut down thirty acres of pine forest to accommodate holes.
Regardless of the geographic layout, this is quite a collection of golf holes. The best three (5,6 & 7) are through pine forest on top of the moraine and feature huge elevation changes and dramatic views. Number 5 in particular is quite distinctive as it starts with a hard left dogleg, then a fairway wood or long iron uphill to a blind green. It’s a reachable par-5 but only with two really well placed shots.
The two par-3′s on Grind are also very strong – both require long carries to elevated, sloping greens.
The other two 9′s at Mill Run are quite unalike. Grist is fairly open meadow land with fescue and large bunkers. Wheel is tighter with more trees and hazards. With the latest addition of Grind, it makes for a very appealing combination of golf holes.
Notes on Mill Run
In addition to the 27 championship holes there is an executive 18 hole course. called The Highlands. Mill Run is semi-private. Memberships are dirt cheap at $1,500 per season for unlimited play and daily green fees are $55 – $65. There’s a great practice facility, a new golf academy and the course is in terrific shape. Overall, real good value. http://www.golfmillrun.com
This is how the Masters started
Yesterday I played in an awesome new event at Coppinwood Golf Club, the newest upscale club in Uxbridge, designed by Tom Fazio and winner of numerous Best New Course awards last year including one from Fairways Magazine. The event was called The Invitational and put together 66 pros and amateurs in a one day medal tournament all vying for the R.H. (Dick) Grimm Cup.
Everybody played the same tees at about 7,100 yards and Course Superintendent Sean Da Silva had the big Coppinwood greens running about 12 on the Stimpmeter. Most of us thought they were even faster. To borrow a line from TV idiot Gary McCord, it was like putting a ball from the roof of your car, down the windshield and trying to stop it on the hood.
The golf course was in spectacular condition and the weather was perfect so there really should have been no excuses for some of the scoring. I asked one of the pro shop staff if he could conveniently lose my card before he posted the score but he indicated that since my score started with an 8, it had to go up on the board. Those scores that started with 9′s or gulp! 10′s were spared.
Of course most of that ugliness came from the amateurs in the field. With former Tour players like Ashley Chinner, Brian McCann and Craig Matheson in the field, the pros turned in some remarkable scores. Chinner, Gerard Waslen and Matheson tied with 1-under scores of 71. Chinner chipped in from the fringe on the third play-off hole to become the first receipient of the Grimm Cup. Chris Kertsos of York Downs was low am with a great score of 74.
Hall of Famer Dick Grimm was on hand to make the presentations and say a few words. There is no classier gentleman in Canadian golf than Dick. He has been unbelievably generous in helping all kinds of Tours, tournaments, charities and golf events and might be the most encouraging guy you’ll ever meet.
The Invitational is intended as an annual event and the date of the tournament is moving next year to the day after the Canadian Open. That might be so they can attract a few name players from the PGA Tour who should be available the day after our national championship. Mike Weir was invited this year but opted instead to play in some event near Pittsburgh. Weir did however donate $1,000 towards the Canadian Tour Bursary Fund that is the designated charity of this event.
Seventy-three years ago, Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts got together a group of pros and amateurs to play a little event down in Augusta, Georgia that evolved into The Masters. While The Invitational has just completed its first playing, it has all the ingredients to evolve into something very special over the years. Quite likely it will be the hottest ticket in town next July.
Weekly Odds & Sods
The most bizarre incident of the week doesn’t concern Michelle Wie for a change. However, in the NO SURPRISES category, John Daly turns up with a story of how he was allegedly attacked by wife Sherrie while he was sleeping Thursday night. According to reports the couple went out for dinner to a local steakhouse, had some words and then she tried to stab him later with a steak knife as he slept. (Note to John: maybe you should have gone for soup & a sandwich). If you saw the big guy playing in the Stanford St. Jude event, his cheeks were all scratched up but to me it looked more like the kind of scratches produced by long fingernails. Sherrie spent a few months in the slammer last year and it’s quite likely she learned a few tricks in there. If she really wanted to hurt or kill John, then she wouldn’t have wasted time carving his face. The really ironic aspect to the whole sordid affair was that John (5’11″, 275 pounds) played while accompanied by two bodyguards in case Sherrie (5’5″, 120 pounds) tried to attack him on the course. We haven’t heard the last of this. Add one more chapter to the Daly files.
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Michelle Wie added another saga to the Wiekly Update as she managed to shoot 11-over par 83 yesterday in Round 3 of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship. Apparently, one of the sore wrists flared up. In her press conference Michelle acknowledged that she finally hit her driver after not using it for a couple of weeks. “It was very therapeutic.” While she didn’t say it the implication was clear, “despite the pain, thought of impending pain, fear of future pain or recollections of past pain, I used my driver. I’m so brave. I’m a big girl now.” How long is this circus in town?
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Rob Thompson has an inside scoop on the acquisition of Mystic Golf Club by Golf North Properties. http://www.ontgolf.ca/g4g/2007/06/09/mistake-golf-club-part-two/ According to one of Thompson’s G4G spies, Golf North may have paid substantially more than any of the other bidders for the bankrupt course in Ancaster. There’s no doubt that Mystic is a more upscale facility than the rest of the Golf North courses but in a soft market with many millions of dollars still required to complete the facility, it’s strange that anybody would overpay for it. If they did pay in excess of $10 million as the story suggests, and still need another $4-5 million for power, clubhouse, course fixes etc, that implies a green fee north of $100 - too much for the west end of Hamilton. On the other hand, Golf North is majority owned by Jim Balsillie of Research in Motion. That’s the same Balsillie who has offered nearly $240 million for the Nashville Predators which is twice their alleged market value. Maybe it’s all part of a grand plan to have an arena and golf course as home for the NHL’s newest team – the Hamilton Mystics.
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Coppinwood Golf Club, the spectacular Tom Fazio course in Uxbridge, is hosting a new tournament on Monday called The Invitational. It’s a gathering of the area’s top professionals and amateurs in an 18-hole stroke play event for the R.H. (Dick) Grimm Cup. Entry fee is $250 and proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Tour Bursary Fund to promote “Canadian golf at the highest level.” I’m heading over to Coppinwood this afternoon for a sneak preview of the course (Yippee!) and growlies with some of the sponsors.
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On Friday I attended a little media gathering at Settler’s Ghost GC in Barrie for a peak at the site of next week’s CN Canadian Women’s Tour event (June 18-19). This is the second year that Settler’s Ghost has played host to the Ontario Championship in the CN series. Last year Burlington native Salimah Mussani won in an exciting playoff and earned an exemption into the CN Canadian Women’s Open on the LPGA Tour. Many local pros and a few amateurs will be participating this year as well as players from the FUTURES Tour. Put it on your calendar. You’ll see some great golf.
Peter Mumford is the Editor and Publisher of Fairways Magazine in Toronto. Fairways is intended for avid golfers and this blog site is an extension of that same philosophy - we don't dumb it down for the uninformed!