Midweek Musings

OK shoot me for taking a day off....  But while I was loafing, here's what we missed:

Kingston Heath, A Primer - One can only hope that the folks in Ponte Vedra Beach are taking notes, because this is what the Silly Season should look like (per Shack):

Nothing evokes Thanksgiving memories like Kingston Heath, which returns to the tournament golf spotlight for the first time since the now infamous 2009 Australian Masters. Even better, the return comes with the historic World Cup of Golf sporting a fun format featuring two rounds of four-ball and two rounds of foursomes.

Fun?  Is that, you know, prudent?  Where does it end?  How many question marks will I force you to endure?

Here's a sample of the look (and Geoff has all sorts of worthy videos at his place):

Not too shabby, eh?

Some very good teams as noted here, including Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker making America great again.  Wally, save the text, I have you down for #TeamBEL.

As for #TeamAus, I do hope they're not contagious.  I'll admit that Leishmania is a condition that I did not anticipate....

John Huggan has a priceless piece on the oddities of the event, including these:

-- In 1967, eight years after becoming the 50th state in the union, Hawaii -- represented by Ted Makalena and James Ukauka -- finished fifth. 

-- Indonesia’s highest-finish in the event came in 1983, when the nations representatives were Sukarno and, wait for it…Suparman. 

-- Jean Garaialde of France holds the record for most appearances with 24. Mohammed Said Moussa is second on 22. No American has made it into double-figures.

Don't let that put you off, as it's a spectacular venue and fun (there's that word again) format.... and we've done far worse in the last couple of months.

Here's one admirer summing up the regard for the joint:

A rising legion of people immersed in the game regard Kingston Heath as the best golf course in Australia. And if not the best, certainly their favourite – a subtle but telling distinction. Where Royal Melbourne has its cavalcade of admirers (and surely always will), the band of devotees of ‘The Heath’ is far from insignificant. 

“It’s not uncommon,” Kingston Heath’s general manager, Gregg Chapple, says of the club hearing people call The Heath the best or their favourite course. “Led by the likes of Adam Scott, Peter Senior, Geoff Ogilvy, Ian Baker-Finch, there are many people who rate The Heath. We are very fortunate that the course is regarded as being worthy of being in the top-25 courses in the world (currently 18th), and as such we appear on numerous golfers’ bucket lists and on the list of top-50 or 100 courses to play.”

And here's Shack's own take:

What do I love about it? As much as any course on the planet, it checks off all the boxes: memorable, walkable, beautiful, bizarre at times and looks like no other course in the world. Many of its many subtleties probably don't translate well to television, but as these visual show, the bunkering most certainly does.

OK, I'm sold, though I hate to forgo watching Tin Cup for the 18th time... But Geoff, how did you not run this pic of the guys that put this event on the map way back when?

 It is Thanksgiving after all...

To Infinity And Beyond - From the Guardian comes this, ahem, guarded good news:

Golf is expected to retain its Olympic status despite the negative publicity that preceded

its return to the Games for the first time in 112 years. 

Confirmation that the sport will remain part of the Games until 2024 at least should come early in the new year. 

Several leading players refused to play in Rio for a variety of reasons and it was feared golf may survive, as had been guaranteed, only for 2016 and 2020. 

A source at the International Olympic Committee said it would be “very surprising” if golf is not afforded an extended run. The IOC meets early next year for a standard review and to announce what sports will feature in the 2024 Games

Very surprising?  You mean like Brexit or, dare I mention, Trump?

 OK, I'll play nice....at least for a moment.  But my concern is that this will take our leadership off the hook for fixing the format and field strength issues.  

Interesting?  Is That Like Fun? - Shack goes into rant mode under this promising header:

Golf's Cup & Race Season Ends, When Do They Get Interesting?

They don't because they can't....  OK, let's give you a taste of the bile from Geoff's spleen:

Another year of races to Dubai and to the CME Globe. 

Another year of FedEx and Schwab Cups. 

Another year trophies were handed out, bonus checks issued, and sponsors have been gratuitously mentioned to justify investments. But what do fans get out of these cups and races?

Fans?  Surely you jest?   

But I'm wondering what the sponsors really get out of this as well.... Yanno, tree, forest....

At the risk of covering ground we've been down previously, it all comes from Commissioner Ratched's reaction to an unusual problem.  Despite controlling the most important tour in the game, he doesn't actually control any of the 4.5 events per season about which fans care.

I know, Boo Hoo and all, but that's where it starts and the result is not aesthetically pleasing.  Remember that series of playoff commercials with the likes of Jerome Bettis.....  but our game doesn't lend itself the the playoff concept because the best players win so infrequently....

The go further astray in trying to achieve the following objectives:

1.  Keep the outcome of the season-long race in doubt until the end; and
2.  Have a worthy winner.

I would argue that those two objectives are irreconcilable, even if one were to reset points on an hourly basis.  And we've been treated to a succession of value-brand winners, so Bil Haas and Billy Horschel,  please take a bow.

I  would have opted to structure the "playoffs as a high-stakes shootout, with no pretense that it has cosmic significance.  But it should culminate in a small number (8 anyone?) playing for the $10 million large....  There's no guarantee that the winner will be any more "worthy" than the Billy H. boys, but the gamble is that the final day would include enough of the show ponies to draw eyeballs.  

You might like it or not, but it simply couldn't be any more boring than what we have....

Oh, and if it saves Judy Rank from abasing self in this manner, it's win-win:

Lydia Leftovers - In our Monday item on herself, I missed this little gem about her vacation plans:

“I’m so excited for it,” she said, for a moment clearly an overburdened teenager. “Month off. Don’t touch my clubs. I think they are sick of me too.”

Well, since the world now knows you're dumping them for the shinier PXG sticks, can you blame them for being a little pissed off.  I do hope you gave them the official George Costanza, "It's not you, it's me" break-up.

A Race To The Bottom - Josh Sens (Golf Mag.) and Alex Myers (Golf Digest) post dueling Turkey of the Year features and, well, it's an honor just to be nominated.  They're both a fun trip down memory lane (or in the case of Paulina, mammary lane), but let's see how they handled this one...  First Josh:

The Steve Harvey Award for Bungling an Award Presentation

Winner: Diane Murphy

And the winner is, Miss Colombia! No. Wait. The winner of the U.S. Women's Open was Brittany Lang. The only problem being that USGA president Diane Murphy repeatedly referred to her as "Bethany" during the awards presentation.

Josh gets point for his poop culture knowledge beyond the game of golf, and for getting in the important point that this was hardly a one-off.

But Alex has game as well:

Look, no one is perfect, and speaking in public can be extremely nerve-wracking. Still, the USGA President essentially had one job at the trophy presentation for the U.S. Women's Open: Get the winner's name right. After Brittany Lang won the event in a playoff for the first major championship of her career, Murphy publicly congratulated "Bethany Lang" for the victory. Whoops. To her credit, Murphy issued a heartfelt apology shortly after the ceremony.

And the winner is....Neither, since they didnt see fit to note her even more embarrassing performance at the men's open award ceremony, when she had obviously made copious use of the open bar.  

But they almost redeemed themselves for recognizing this gent who, pace President Obama, is the Michael Jordan of turkeys:

The at Least He Didn't Claim that He'd Been Kidnapped Award

Winner: Robert Allenby

Roughly 18 months after making headlines for his claim of being kidnapped, drugged and robbed outside a Honolulu bar (an account that Hawaiian police refuted), Allenby was back on the police blotter. This time, the action took place outside a casino in Illinois, where the Aussie was arrested for criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct after missing the cut at the John Deere Classic. Asked about the incident, Allenby was quoted as saying: "There's nothing to be said or done about. Nothing happened." If he says so.

Do they have a Lifetime Achievement Award?