A late start to blogging today, but frost delays aren't unusual this time of year....
Desperate Times - I a delightful postmodern kind of way, I blogged Shack's Golfworld piece on desperation before he did....Apparently he took my criticism to heart, using this Pravda article on the tennis world to support his tenuous arguments:
Instead of drawing chips from a bowl, organizers instructed the young players to select a model who would then reveal a letter, A or B, on her body to determine each player’s group.
The first model selected hiked up her dress and pulled her garter to reveal the letter A.
Another instructed a player to remove her glove with his teeth.
The tennis world quickly expressed its disapproval at the crass sexualization of the event. The Hall of Famer Amélie Mauresmo called it a “disgrace,” while the French player Alizé Cornet mocked the regressive start to a showcase of innovations.
“Good job ATPWorldTour,” Cornet wrote on Twitter. “Supposed to be a futurist event right? #backtozero.”
Boy, those tennis people have no sense of humor.... I get that he thinks we should have some institutional confidence in our 500-year old sport, and that we shouldn't be injuring players in promotional stunts, but I'm still unclear of his precise point.
That said, I'm pretty sure that Keith Pelley's plans for the 2018 Ryder Cup will not make him any happier (from the interview we linked to yesterday):
Our first tee experience at the Ryder Cup is going to be sensational. The opening ceremony, it should be a show, right? It’ll be much more of a show in France than it’s ever been before. I can guarantee you it will be. Still, we’re not bringing the players out in smoke tunnels, right? You’ll still have that aura that golf has, that majesty that golf has, but there will be a big entertainment element, absolutely, no question.
OK, but if there's to be harnesses, let's only put assistant captains in them....
Close to Home - Just yesterday I was critical of Mike Bamberger for his feature on sexual harassment as relates to cart girls, an opinion I'll stand by. I just think we're about to go through a horrible reckoning, and golf should stay as far away from it as possible.
Except, you know, when it lands on our front porch:
As allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace plague Hollywood executives and government officials, a renowned Oregon golf course and its powerful parent corporation are the focus of an explosive lawsuit that alleges rampant sexual misconduct and inaction from local and corporate executives.
An employee of Bandon Dunes golf course, often rated as one of the world’s top golf courses, has sued the longtime general manager of the resort and its parent company, KemperSports, alleging sexual assault, harassment, discrimination, retaliation and negligence.
Court documents show the allegations aren’t just limited to the golf club in Bandon, Oregon. Two employees claim the alleged misconduct has been pervasive for years at the corporate office. Top executives are accused by the lawsuit of not only condoning the behavior but also participating in sexually inappropriate conduct themselves.
The documents reveal an alleged “Boy’s Club,” which is described as a place where women could only advance if they accepted a sexually hostile work environment that included regular harassment, inappropriate touching and, for at least one female executive, a threat of rape.
The source is a Portland newspaper, but the article is horribly written. You'll note all those awkward references to "golf course", as they seem unfamiliar with the word resort. And the reference to corporate office is also misleading, as it seems to apply to Kemper Sports, the manager of the resort.
We're not going to be immune from this plague, and the behavior alleged sounds all to familiar.... We'll just hope that there isn't too much more of it in our little fishbowl.
Right on Schedule - Comes this genuine tweet from the poster boy for Millennials:
See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Perhaps next time you could just issue the apology in lieu of whatever matter you find desperately craves your trenchant commentary.
Alan, Asked - It's proven itself a viable feature despite the God-awful name... For instance, how timely is this query:
"Time for another made-for-TV-match: Grayson Murray vs. Bernhard Langer. To make it fair Langer could give him three shots a side." -Carl (@clcarlisme)
Honestly, I would be more excited for this scrum than practically any other matchup we could conjure. Both dudes would grind so hard, because they’d have a lot at stake. The funny thing about Murray is that he’s a natural heel but he’s afraid to fully embrace the role, hence the endless apologies. Just own it, dude.
The answer is fine, but sometimes it's the question that shines... I also have to feel that we could somehow include Jimenez and Bradley for a fourball cage match.
But this is wishful thinking:
"Do you think Payne Stewart would have been a Ryder Cup Captain and how do you think he would have done?" -@DonnyVantaOh, he would’ve been an incredible captain. Nobody loved the Ryder Cup more and Payne was Seve-esque in his ability to rally teammates. Stewart would’ve been 47 years old at the time of the 2004 Ryder Cup, the perfect age for a Ryder captain. So one of his biggest contributions to the game would have been negating a Hal Sutton captaincy.
But would he have had the brilliance to pair Tiger and Phil? And, to remind the viewer, that was only the runner-up as stupidest thing Hal did that week....
Payne did love the Ryder Cup, though he did embarrassingly lose to Feherty in singles at Kiawah. And badly....
This is a tough one:
"6/4 for Rory to win a major next season......a bet or a lay in your opinion?" -Kevin(@hezz332)
He has to win one, doesn’t he? It’s been three years and in that time Jordan, Dustin, JT, Brooks, J-Day and sundry others have made major leaps forward. Rory has immense pride and doesn’t want to become irrelevant at the age of 29. On the flip side, his putting issues are a serious red flag, he hasn’t been able to stay healthy and he’s displayed a dismaying inability to raise his game at the majors. I’d still take the bet that he’ll win one, but don’t put your whole 401(k) on it.
Yeah, you'd think he'd be plenty motivated.... But it wasn't just the putting, his wedge play has been atrocious. He's got to show me something before any shekels are wagered....
And folks seem to want to talk about caddies this week:
"Any word on who Phil will hire as his caddy next year? He said [his brother] Tim would only finish out 2017.#AskAlan" -Joan (@J58golf)I reached out to a couple of people close to Phil and they professed to have no clue. I imagine Mickelson begging his brother to stay on; Phil has always been intensely loyal and afraid of change. If Tiger blows out his back at the Hero I could see Phil making a run at Joe LaCava, as they’re buddies. At this point I think Phil wants a friend and a companion as much as anything, so if Tim gives up the job I could imagine his replacement won’t be a Tour caddie at all but someone else who is already part of the inner circle.
It doesn't matter who loops for him, he's not going to listen to them in any meaningful way.
"Are caddies athletes?" -Kevin (@CaddieKev)
Are movers? Actually, Alan has a reasonable answer comparing them more to coaches....
Algorithms on Parade - It's kind of funny from where I sit, that despite FedEx Cups going to the likes of Bill Haas and Billy Horschel, it took the round belly nonsense to awaken the masses.... Yeah, it was a pretty stark example of the genre, but Billy Horschel for chrissakes....
The winner, Kevin Sutherland, actually had a very thoughtful comment on the controversy:
“I’ve heard a lot of (the criticism) and I guess my feeling about it is I don’t think the Schwab Cup is designed to crown who had the best season,” Sutherland said of the "season long" points race. “Obviously, Bernhard Langer did. He had an amazing year and I don’t think anybody would say because I won the Schwab Cup that that takes away from the fact that he has the best year and he’s definitely going to be Player of the Year."
That is the nature of these things these days, especially with them loving that anyone in the top five wins that last event, where the field is so small that anyone in it can win.
Over in Europe the Middle East, Sergio can't seem to contain his excitement over their Race to Dubai:
The Spaniard can end the year as Europe’s top player if he wins this week’s $8 million DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. Garcia must win and hope current No. 1Tommy Fleetwood finishes outside the top 12, and No. 2 Justin Rose finishes fourth or worse.
Garcia really couldn’t care less.
“Winning the Race to Dubai is great but I’m not going to change my whole life for it,” Garcia said. “I’m happy finishing second, third or fourth or whatever.”
That'll help sell tickets....
In Other News, Sun Still Rising in the East - An interesting study on the following subject:
Faster Green Speeds Result in Slower Pace of Play
What makes this more than a "No S**t, Sherlock" moment, is that they've quantified it:
An increase of one foot in Stimpmeter reading resulted in an increase of 6.39 seconds pergreen per player. This one foot increase equates to an increase in total round time of a foursome of 7.67 minutes. In some instances, the increase in time spent per player per green resulted in an increase of as much as 30 minutes per round for a one foot increase in green speed (25 seconds per player per green). Overall, playing experience ratings decreased as green speeds increased. This decrease, although statistically significant, was small.In conclusion, we found that faster greens equate to longer round times. The strength of this relationship, however, is not as substantial as we had hypothesized.
I like the admission that the correlation was less than they thought, but I'll also add Geoff's take, admittedly throwing in the kitchen sink, arguing for greater significance:
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but I would disagree that the number is insignificant.
On these findings of one foot of speed increase, greens Stimping 9 for a foursome would take 76 seconds less to play a hole than a group dealing with 12 on the Stimpmeter. Over the course of 18 holes that adds up to over 20 minutes. Throw in the added cost, stress and architectural impact, all of which do not improve the game, and the chase for speed continues to make little sense.
Of course, the battle to keep greens stimping in single digits is already lost... And at the highest levels of our game, green speeds are one of the few tools remaining to control scoring....
But it's food for thought for sure.
Taxes and Golf - An interesting item on a golf-related provision in the proposed tax plans being circulated, but does every single item involved have to be framed through POTUS?
Here's a pretty good description of what's involved, a so-called easement donation:
Here’s how it works: a golf-course owner agrees to restrict development on his or her property in perpetuity, which is known as creating a conservation easement, and to donate that easement to either a land trust or a local government. He or she can continue to own the golf course.
The property owner then gets two appraisals: one for the value of the property if it were sold on the market to the highest bidder without any restrictions on development, such as a homebuilder that would subdivide it, and the other for the property with the easement intact. The difference between those two values can be deducted from the golf course owner’s income for tax purposes.
The laws allowing for conservation easements were meant to protect forests, farmland and other open space for the benefit of the public. Golf courses are just one of many types of land that use the easements.
Now I'd be happier if this kind of nonsense didn't exist, but it predates Trump and he's far from the only guy to take advantage of it.
But this is the Bloomberg lede:
Republican lawmakers pushing to close dozens of tax loopholes have left open one that’s been good to President Donald Trump: the golf break.
It's a small revenue item, he's had little involvement in the drafting of these plans and there's no mention of the cost to him of eliminating the state and local tax deductions, but we can only discuss this as it relates to one person.
OK, enough for today....
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