Saturday Stuff

I was rushing this post to publication this morning before teeing it up when the power went out for a second, losing all unsaved work.  So here it is, a tad later than planned and with my handicap trend a stroke higher:

Bubba Unplugged - I know, redundancy alert... When it comes to mini-golf, we flood the zone with reporters to bring you all the latest news.  Take this, for instance:

Noted auteur Geoff Shackelford did have this technical criticism:

The video...clearly Bubba's cinematographer isn't aware of the landscape shooting mode popularized around circa 2007.

I'm pretty sure that landscape mode precedes 2007, but the point is well taken.

In other trick-shot news, Shackelford introduces us to the Bryan Brothers, who while no relation to the tennis players have got this glow-in-the-dark thing going for them:

Never gets old, does it?

Golf in the Time of Kohler - Per HRT News, Kohler Co. officials presented plans to a packed town hall meeting for a fifth course along Lake Michigan:

“We believe it can be as good or better than the Straits course,” said Michael Belot, general manager of Destination Kohler, referring to the company’s famed Whistling Straits course in the Town of Mosel. 

The new 18-hole course would be built on a 247-acre parcel of wooded land the company owns along Lake Michigan and would include four holes along the shoreline, according to the company’s permit application. The company hopes to open the course in July 2017. 

Belot told Plan Commission members that the golf course would retain the basic dune structure and white pine growth found on the land today, though corridors would be opened up to provide views of the lake. Kohler is still evaluating whether to obtain water from private on-site wells or from the lake.

Nothing official on a designer, but Matt Ginella has pegged Pete Dye for the work.  No surprise, since he did all four of the predecessor courses.   Dustin Johnson could not be reached for comment.

We're still a few years out, but Wisconsin is turning itself into quite the golf destination.  To the Kohler Kollection add Keiser's multi-course initiative at Wisconsin Rapids and future U.S. Open venue Erin Hills.

College Update - Duke held off fast-charging USC to win the women's NCAA's, as per this Julie Williams report:

By the time the day was down to nine holes, Duke head coach Dan Brooks had tried to engage every Duke fan he could see in the crowd. The Blue Devils got a good vibe from that support group, and they counted only two bogeys on the back nine. Every player finished that side at even or better. Seniors Alejandra Cangrejoand Laetitia Beck came in with rounds of 2-under 68. Two groups later, freshman Sandy Choi posted 69. The rest of the field gravitated toward No. 18, waiting for the finale. 

“It is hard to describe what it feels like,” Cangrejo said. “I was dying. I was the first one to finish.”

This is the last season for stroke play for the gals, as next year they'll play the same format as the lads.  And speaking of the lads, we've got good news and bad news for you.  The good news is we have the first televised golf tournament ever from Prairie Dunes on offer.  The bad news is that there may not be so much of this golf stuff to see, as Ryan Lavner explains:

Assume the position.

It took Texas A&M 11 1/2 hours to play 11 holes Friday. 

For once, this is not the start of a slow-play joke. 

There were 8 hours and 10 minutes of delays Friday during the opening round of the NCAA Championship. Teams with an early-morning tee time arrived at Prairie Dunes at 6:30 a.m. local time. They left 12 hours later, with the lead group only through 11 holes and just half of the 30-team field underway.

Looking forward, the forecast isn't much better.

Now is the Spring of CBS' Discontent -  You know the litany of ills, Tiger's back surgery, Phil's indifferent play, blown leads by show ponies, yada, yada, yada.  I don't think this week's 36-hole leaderboard is going to make CBS any happier, topped off as it is by the law firm of Garnett, Stroud & Streb.  Plus new world No. 1 Adam Scott demonstrated the soundness of his designation as golf's alpha dog by barely making the cut.  It's been that kind of season.

Then there was this bit of weirdness from Jimmy Walker:

That wasn't as bad as one I remember from a few years ago.  Tom Kite was in the hunt at a Senior Tour event late in the final round when his tee shot on a Par 3 hit a bird and dropped into the water hazard.  Now that's a bad bounce!

Keeping Up with an 11-Year Old - Last week brought news that 11-year old Lucy Li has qualified for the U.S. Women's Open.  Matthew Ruddy now gives us this video of Lucy in golf boot camp at the tender age of eight:

That's quite a swing, regardless of her age, but why exactly did McLean have to narrate this from his home rec room?

And speaking of the ladies' Open, Ron Sirak tells us that the USGA has come up with a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down, the medicine being playing out of the guy's divots at Pinehurst next month.  

The first impact of the new riches rolling into the USGA from its $1.1 billion, 12-year TV deal

Inbee Park with Open trophy at Sebonack in 2013.

with Fox Sports that begins in 2015 will be felt this year. At next month's U.S. Women's Open at Pinehurst No. 2, the professionals in the field will be playing for a purse of $4 million, sources told GolfDigest.com, a significant bump from the $3.25 million that has been offered since 2008.

And, according to one source, that won't be the end of it. "It will also bump up a good bit in 2015," the source said.

Glad to see the purse ratcheting up for the ladies, for whom it's still tough out there.

Maybe I'm Taking This the Wrong Way, But... this Callaway promotion seems to indicate a certain lack of confidence in their marque staff player:

There's little doubt that six-time runner-up Phil Mickelson will be the fan favorite at this year's U.S. Open, but Callaway announced a promotion Thursday that may get him even more support from the golfing public. And it might cost Mickelson's equipment sponsor more than a million bucks.

"Callaway's Big Big Bertha Paycheck" lets any golfer who demos one of the company's metalwoods enter a contest for a chance to win the equivalent of Mickelson's prize money at this year's U.S. Open. That includes the winner's check, which last year came to $1.44 million. Golfers who go to a participating facility and demo either a Big Bertha or Big Bertha Alpha driver, or a Big Bertha fairway wood, will receive a code that they can use to enter for a chance to win. The contest runs through U.S. Open Sunday, June 15. Fun fact: Mickelson's average paycheck in 23 appearances in the U.S. Open is more than $183,000, including 10 paydays of more than $50,000.

By my calculation, a missed cut will cost them exactly nothing.

Tank You Very Much - A couple of recent golf business stories have confirmed the sorry state of the game, as least as far as equipment sales are concerned.  Most recently, Forbes reported on the results of Dick's Sporting Goods, which also owns Golf Galaxy:

What’s worse than a triple bogey? Shares of Dick's Sporting Goods DKS -0.39% were down

close to 15% in pre-market trading Tuesday after the company revealed substantial weakness in its golf and hunting divisions. Dick’s also sharply cut its full year profit and same store sales outlooks. The stock is set to open near $45 which would be a new 52-week low.

As you press down it doesn't get any better:

“Our difficulties this quarter were isolated to two categories: golf and hunting,” said CEO Edward Stack in a statement on the results. “After a very challenging first quarter in golf last year, we expected some further headwinds and only modest improvement, but instead we saw a continued significant decline.

While the company expects hunting sales to stabilize, it has no such hopes for its golf division.

In an earlier story, Addidas reported a similar decrease in earnings, which it attributed to a certain product line:

The quarter's earnings were hit by double-digit sales declines at TaylorMade-Adidas Golf. The company is making "strategic changes" at the business to align shipping and product launch cycles with market demand patterns. 

Those sales declines contributed to the 20 percent drop-off in Adidas revenue in North America during the quarter, primarily because of the TaylorMade strategic shift, the company said. The golf unit accounted for more than half the sales decline in the region.

My ears perked up at the mere mention of product launch cycles, as the half-life of a TaylorMade driver seems to be about an hour and a half these days.  My guess is that the green eyeshades in Germany have woken up to the fact that level of R&D is unsustainable.  Who knew that golfers didn't want to replace their $500 drivers twice a year?