According to LPGA Commissioner Bivens, the recently-announced mandate that all players learn English within two years of joining the tour is intended to ensure that players can better interact with sponsors and media. As a former English as a foreign/second language teacher myself, and someone who for a couple of decades was fairly conversant in six or seven languages (use it or lose it), I know full well that learning a foreign language as an adult is difficult, especially when the bulk of one’s time is spent alone or with a fellow countryman(woman) on a golf course. I also know that American ... full post »

It’s always fun to watch for the inevitable onslaught of press releases that follow each and every tournament of the PGA Tour schedule. In fact, they follow most events on the PGA, European, LPGA, and Nationwide Tours, too. And though I may be atypical in this respect among golf writers, I actually look forward to them each week, and even read most of the ones that end up in my e-mail box. These press releases generally emanate from equipment companies who associate themselves with the winner, or runner-up, or, heck, even some guys in the top 10 (top 20 in a ... full post »

Despite being open to play for just over a month, The Castle Course at St. Andrews is already proving to be a big draw in its own right. St. Andrews Links Trust, overseers of the Links Courses at St. Andrews, including The Old Course, reports that in the first month of operation, more than 4,000 rounds were booked on the seventh, and newest, golf course in the Trust’s care. The popularity of the course is, in fact, exceeding expectations of the Trust. Despite being “The new kid on the block” - and actually not being on the block at all, but ... full post »

We here in the WorldGolf.com universe pride ourselves at being ahead of the curve. We visit the newest courses, and test the latest golf equipment from manufacturers that don’t get ink from mainstream paper publications. Our shorter editorial lag and more decentralized management style allow immense flexibility compared to traditional magazines. Yet some hard-copy rags still like to make believe we don’t exist (even when we’re seated next to them in the press rooms at majors - but that’s another story…). So please forgive us as we chuckle a bit when the mainstream golf media finally catch up to us. For example, ... full post »

Until today, I had endeavored mightily to avoid writing anything about an already over-hyped 2008 Summer Olympics”, but my dwindling patience have been finally ripped asunder. And I must beg, of all that is holy (and even the unholy programmers at NBC): Please, PLEASE – Enough with the beach volleyball already! How many freaking matches of this completely contrived abomination of an Olympic “sport” do we really need to see?!? Every night I come home (or morning when I take my daughter to the orthodontist, or afternoon writing articles at sports bars), hoping to see some true Olympic sport like Greco-Roman wrestling ... full post »

When I first received the press release announcing Dixon Golf’s new green golf balls, I thought to myself: “Geez, I’ve got enough trouble finding the white ones.” But then I realized I had been misled by the rampant polysemy in English, and that Dixon’s ‘Earth’ ball is “green” in the sense of “earth-friendly,” not in the sense of “blue mixed with yellow.” How does Dixon Golf make a green golf ball? According to the company, they are devoted to saving the environment one little, dimpled, white orb at a time : “Unlike other Golf Ball Brands [sic] who use harsh heavy-metal pollutants like ... full post »

One result of an equipment company signing an endorsement deal with a PGA Tour player or LPGA Tour player – heck, any tour player – is usually an increase in the price of the equipment. Ya gotta pay for that endorsement contract somehow. On the other hand, if the endorsements are chosen carefully, the deals can enrich not only the player, but also the company. Brand name recognition is huge in golf, and seeing a company’s name emblazoned on a bag or cap plants seeds of interest in the minds of TV viewers and on-course spectators. Tour Edge Golf, one of those ... full post »