This and That

Some mostly non-links items to share with my vast readership before we go into weekend mode.

Leading From Behind - This is one that almost got away from me, but might even be deserving of a post of its.  Laura Davies has a bit of an undeserved reputation as controversial, though I think her amazing career gets lost in the shuffle.  She was made a Dame by the Queen last month (and trust me, there is nothing like a dame), and today we award her the Order of Unplayable Lies, for these comments in caddies standing behind their players to adjust alignment:

“It shouldn’t be allowed,” said Davies, who acquired her title in the Queen’s Birthday Honours

last month. “It’s a basic part of golf, alignment. You’re not allowed to get a grip that’s perfectly set for you, so why should you have someone stand behind you and tell you where to aim?

“I don’t understand why the USGA and the R&A haven’t sussed that one out yet because it just seems basic to me. And it slows the game down.”

Tell it, sistah!  I don't know that there's a basis to declare it illegal under the rules of golf, but that doesn't stop us from ridiculing it as bush league.  And if the ladies want more folks with outdoor plumbing to watch them play, here's  a place they can start.  You'll notice that virtually no member of the PGA, Champions or Web.com Tours apparently needs such assistance...

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This was discussed on yesterday's broadcast, and it was noted that Paula Creamer, who has previously had her caddie help out thusly, agreed with Laura that it shouldn't be permitted.  But not five minutes later they cut to Paula and her caddie in a scene similar to the one at left.   

That's the only photo I could find of it, and let me make clear that they do this only on practice swings behind the ball.  The caddie is pressing down on the bill of her cap to force her to stay tall during her swing, But it's really practice tee stuff, and looks completely bush league during tournament play.  Again, if it's respect that you crave ladies, then comport yourselves in a way that makes other golfers take you seriously.

No Stopping Him Now - Having drop-kicked every opportunity to win on the flat-belly tour, our Monty shot 65 yesterday in the first round of the Senior U.S. Open to lead Marco Dawson by one.  

He seems to be a new man since turning 50, having played quite well in winning the Senior Players Championship last month.    

Hope I'm not putting a blogger's curse on him, but it's actually nice to see him playing well and enjoying the crowds.  The event is being held at Oklahoma's Oak Tree National, which I'd be interested in seeing but simply have no available time with the two links events providing 11 hours of television coverage.

Don't They Learn? - Do Paul Azinger and Brandel Chamblee speak to each other?  Well, perhaps they should, because Zinger is on the clock for the inevitable apology:

An Intra-swoosh cage match.

Paul Azinger said Thursday that a quest by Tiger Woods to make his swing better has backfired on him. 

Woods has gone through four swing changes with three coaches during his career, each time saying the objective was to get better. 

In a conference call for ESPN, Azinger said that in his quest to get better, "I think he's actually gotten a little bit worse."

I'm actually less interested in whether it's true, which is quite arguable, as to why Zinger would go there.  It's hard to make the case that the move to Haney didn't work out, as he won a bushelful of majors.   As for Sean Foley, the guy won five big-time tournaments last year. which last time I checked doesn't suck.  

And lest you think that Azinger is just being brutally candid, there's this:

Azinger also questioned why Woods would entrust his swing to two coaches who never competed at a high level. 

Woods was with Butch Harmon, who played briefly on the PGA Tour, before turning pro and during his most dominant days in golf from 1996 through 2003. Woods overhauled his swing with Hank Haney and had a two-year stretch when he won 18 times in 34 tournaments, including four majors. He switched to Sean Foley in 2011.

Really, Paul?  Butch might well be the best swing coach out there, but it's hardly because of his cup of coffee in the Show (I know, it's a baseball term, but it's the same concept).  

And while we're on The Striped One, ESPN has announced that they'll be copying the broadcast priorities

of CBS and NBC experimenting with their coverage of The Open Championship:

The return of the British Open to Royal Liverpool marks Tiger Woods’ return to major competition — an occasion duly noted by ESPN. 

As part of its coverage of the event, ESPN3 will offer a live feed following Woods for the entirety of every round he plays.

Tune in over the weekend for, I don't know, test patterns perhaps? 

"C" is for Counterproductive - Rex Hoggard saves me a rant, with his piece on the pending press conference to update us on Olympic Golf, including a new ranking system:

By design, the selection process to earn a spot in Rio casts a wide net. A country can have up to four players qualify for the ’16 Games if they are ranked within the top 15 on July 11, 2016, the deadline for both fields. After that the fields will be filled out with the highest-ranked players with a maximum of two players per country.

Got that?  Only a maximum of four Americans (or Aussies or Brits) in the field, so right now here's your Olympic golf field:

Along with Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth – the U.S. is currently the only country to have four players in the top 15 – and Adam Scott and Jason Day, Australia’s lineup, would be Chan Shih-chang from Chinese Taipei at 266th in the world. 

The current field would also include Antonio Lascuna and Juvic Pagunsan from the Philippines at Nos. 268 and 278, respectively; Brazil’s Adilson da Silva at 275 and Portugal’s Ricardo Santos at 285. 

And Santos isn’t even the highest-ranked player in the current field. That honor belongs to Nicholas Fung from Malaysia, who is 290th in the world.

But sure, this is the ticket for growing the game.  

Veto Power - While we're on Butch, he's got a new horse in his stable, per Rex Hoggard:

“You know me I don’t make overhauls, but he had gotten into some bad habits and I just showed him the way we could fix it,” Harmon said. “The big work as far as the changes is there. We did some work today on his ball flight going into the British and he took to it very easily.”

Harmon said Snedeker called him about 10 days ago to ask if the two could work together permanently and after running it by the other members of his stable Harmon said it was an easy decision.

Shackelford is curious about why he wanted or needed his other clients' approval.  I'm a bit more even-tempered and assume it's a time allocation issue.  If they're not getting enough Butch-love at the PGA or U.S. Open, he at least had their sign-off before adding another time-sucking client.

Don't Try This at Home, Kids - It's Segway segue time, kids.  Brandt Snedeker most recently put a dent in his career, but did that stop Jesper Parnevik from derailing his career?  No, siree... and he was good enough to post it for us in Instagram:

Of course you'd be withing your rights to be surprised that Jesper had a career to put at risk.  Just sayin'...

Buyer's Market - A few days ago Shackelford linked to this New York Times article on bottom-feeders becoming active in the market for golf courses:

While golf is still anathema to many investment portfolios, investors who have the cash see the current market as an opportunity to scoop up distressed clubs and revamp their business models. 

“It’s certainly a buyer’s market,” said Larry Hirsh, president of Golf Property Analysts. “There are a lot of distressed courses, financing is difficult and most buyers don’t have the ability to write a check.”

Not exactly a surprise that it's a buyer's market, though it's somewhat surprising there are any buyers, especially since financing is quite difficult:

But that has opened the door for investors like Mr. Nanula, who raised his $50 million private equity fund in 2012 and has since bought eight golf course clubs and loans. In 2013, the asset management giant Fortress Investment Group began financing Arcis Equity Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm that specializes in leisure. In March, Tower Three Partners of Greenwich, Conn., took a majority stake in the Heritage Golf Group, an owner and operator of premier private, resort and daily fee golf properties. 

Foreign investors are also joining the game. Heritage Est. St. Andrews, based in Luxembourg, recently formed a fund to invest in and enhance undervalued golf properties. Pacific Links International of Canada began acquiring clubs in 2012 and now owns 10 in the United States, bringing its network of owned, affiliate and reciprocal clubs to more than 100 worldwide.

The article details the overly optimistic forecasts about retiring baby boomers creating excess golf course construction, and the predictable crash of values.  The writer seems to imply that such properties are cash flow positive, maybe:

Rather than base their offers on the value of the real estate, as many did in the past, buyers are focusing on the cash flow generated by the business. “This is a fundamental change,” Mr. Woolson said. “Prior to the recession, we didn’t even talk about gross revenue multipliers.”

Before the financial crisis, buyers were paying the equivalent of 11 to 14 times net income, he said. Now, the going rate for a well-run course is in line with other businesses, typically six to eight times net income, he said — assuming there is income. 

The change is warranted, Mr. Woolson said, because most courses left on the market have deed restrictions that preclude developing them for other purposes.

That last bit is probably the most crucial.  If the properties could be converted to other sues, the original developers would have done so.   

Knox Knews - The Scottish Housewife and I have been bantering back and forth about the progress of Russell Knox, a Scot of sorts.  Elsie has a charming tendency to blame all his failings on the American father, whereas I tend towards the reverse.  I noted his early round success in this morning's post, but he ended up with one of THOSE scorecards, which included two eagles (on the outbound nine), but also included three double-bogeys and a four-pack of bogeys for a back-nine 6-over 41..  He was five under for the round after the sixth hole, but finished the day three over for the round.  

For those who like train wrecks, here's a screen grab of his scorecard:

Obviously his Scottish mother failed to teach him how to, you know, get it to the clubhouse.