You remember Rich Beem, right? You don’t? Well, he won the 2002 PGA Championship and hasn’t really been heard from much since. Until Friday evening at the PGA of America Awards banquet down in Orlando, that is. Bill Eschenbrenner, a club pro from Lone Star Golf Club in El Paso, Texas, was being honored as PGA Golf Professional of the Year in front of some 1,500 guests. Beem, who gave Eschenbrenner a good deal of credit for his PGA Championship win, showed up as a surprise. Nice gesture, right? Only problem was that Beem rolled in looking like the proverbial turd in a ... full post »

Those of you who have been to the PGA Merchandise Show & Convention know what kind of flatulent hooey some of the exhibitors spew. Some of the sales pitches you’ll hear - even from respected companies - are straight off a carnival midway. Walking by an exhibitor’s display, you’re likely to hear: “These new irons will have you hitting the ball 17.4% farther,” (note: they always use a number like this, more believable than, say 10%) “with 21.1% greater accuracy and 32.7% more spin. You’ll score lower GUARANTEED!” Much of what you’ll hear walking around the show floor sounds ... full post »

Stunning news from Gary Van Sickle in his recent column at cnnsi.com: “It doesn’t matter that Michelle Wie is only 16 and still in high school. The hype about her has gone on so long without her winning anything that it’s becoming tiresome,” he writes. “That opening 79 at Sony hurt her image more than the seven-birdie 68 in the second round helped. She’s going to be an amazing pro at 22 but only if the media, the expectations and the big money don’t ruin her in the next six years. Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel seem much better positioned to ... full post »

So golf blogger William K. Wolfrum wrote in his blog charging that “Britney Spears … made big bucks for more or less being naked and shaking it.” And he hit Ms. Spears with a below-the-belt prostitution jab as well: “She just seemed to me to be someone trying to make money the old-fashioned way. The really old-fashioned way.” This being a golf blog, eventually Wolfrum turned his thoughts to our game - namely accusing PGA Tour boss Tim Finchem of selling fluff over talent, ala the aforementioned B.S. Well, thank Tiger that Rya, a fan of B.S., leapt to the defense, commenting, ... full post »

Chris Baldwin just wrote a fine piece for the weekly WorldGolf.com newsletter bemoaning how too many golf courses are starting to charge higher “weekend” rates for Fridays and even Thursdays. He makes a strong point about how this pricing scam is a good example of the golf industry shooting itself in the foot. “Anyone who gets away to play a round of golf on a weekday - and Thursday and Fridays are still weekdays - should be rewarded, not punished by the golf industry,” Baldwin writes. And you know what? …. Gasp! ….. Folks are agreeing with Chris. This is ... full post »

I wrote here about the need for PGA Tour top dog Tim Finchem to listen to Tiger and Co. and get serious about shortening the PGA Tour season: … we all know what happens to attendance and viewership when Tiger doesn’t play. The same goes for any of the top guys, though certainly to a lesser degree. Yet Finchem skips along merrily, trotting out gimmicky playoffs, made-up majors, and imitation Ryder Cup Matches. Sure his intentions are good - to increase interest in pro golf. But he’s got to remember two things. First, there is a saturation point. Hey, if X ... full post »

In a recent blog, our Jennifer Mario writes about how 16-year-old Michelle Wie appeared on Mark Rolfing’s Golf Hawaii on the Golf Channel, where he asked her: “Which would give you more satisfaction, making the cut in a PGA tournament, or winning on the LGPA?” Mario made a valid point in commending Rolfing for the direct question: “Way to put her on the spot, Mark!” Then it all went to seed for Jennifer. She went on to get, well, just goofy: “With her usual finesse, she replied, ‘I would choose both. Winning an LPGA tournament would be awesome because it’s something I’ve ... full post »

One of our brilliant tech gurus has turned me on to a search tool that tells what folks are searching for via the Yahoo search engine. Curious, I started punching in a few golf terms to see what related searches people were doing and how frequently. Naturally, around these parts, 16-year-old golfer Michelle Wie remains a hot topic, so I punched in, well, “Michelle Wie.” It turns out that, of the Yahoo searches done in November 2005, “Michelle Wie” was first; searched for 34,791 times. Nice! Second was “michelle wie web site” with 3,350 searches. Go, Michelle! You have a lot ... full post »