As too often is the case nowadays, the U.S. is lagging behind the world in issues that matter. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has his head in the sand when it comes to steroids and drugs. The International Golf Federation does not. While Finchem is saying there’s no need to test on the tour, the IGF recently tested players at the World Amateur team Championships in South Africa. The organization tested 12 male and female players, and all the results came up negative, for what it’s worth. I hear Tiger Woods has a new driver he’s hitting 400 yards. When will Finchem start a testing ... full post »

It’s hardly news that Michelle Wie missed another cut at a men’s golf tournament. This is how she makes her living. She makes a ton of money missing these cuts, and she has perfected her technique. She misses cuts better than any other female golfer, living or dead. The latest is the Casio World Open in Japan, in which she finished 17-over-friggin’-par. She shot 80-81 and barely beat an amateur to avoid last place. She didn’t make a single birdie. She’s already set numerous records missing cuts – she’s one for 12 now – and now she’s taking her missed-cut gospel to ... full post »

Myrtle Beach pols are finally getting around to setting limits on golf course redevelopment and protecting homeowners. The Horry County Council rezoned the north course at Deer Track to limit the number of homes that can be built there to three an acre instead of seven, and then rejected a plan to redevelop The Wizard golf course, according to Myrtle Beach Online. All this in the face of possible lawsuits by the Deer Track owners. I’m glad the politicians are showing some guts. Owners and developers have been pushing around homeowners on golf courses and in golf course communities too long. You ... full post »

A reader wrote recently that he was considering putting together a golf trip to Biloxi. He says he found one Gulfport golf packager out of business, another who wouldn’t answer his phone, another who said the area wasn’t ready for tourists, and a travel agent who said the same. Yet another company said the area was fine for a golf trip. He wanted to know if he would look like a fool for trying to arrange a golf trip to Biloxi for 12 people. No, you won’t. The truth is, most of the golf courses in the Biloxi area are back in business. ... full post »

Of all the people who I thought wouldn’t back down from Tiger Woods, Paddy Harrington would have been way down on my list, even though he’s had a great year. But, it was the little Irishman who rallied to beat El Tigre at the Dunlop Phoenix on Sunday, in a playoff no less. Woods protects leads like a mama bear protects its cubs, having lost only once, but he folded to Harrington on Sunday, playing conservatively with a three-stroke lead down the stretch, then blowing a birdie putt that would have extended the playoff. Harrington’s miraculous shot between tree limbs left him in ... full post »

People are falling all over themselves again to get the brand name Michelle Wie in their golf tournaments. The LPGA Safeway International changed the date of the event, after holding discussions with B.J., Michelle’s father. “Coincidentally, our new date just happens to be the same week that Michelle has spring break,” the guy who runs the tournament, Tom Maletis, told the East Valley Tribune. Yeah, what a coincidence. And the Sony Open people have given her another sponsor’s exemption. This will be her chance to go 0 for 4 at making the cut at the Sony and 0 for 6 on the ... full post »

Greg Norman will design one, not two courses at the Jupiter Country Club in Jupiter, Florida. Plans originally called for two Norman courses to be the centerpiece of the upscale project, but the developers sold more than 800 acres and put the kibosh on that plan. The project is under construction now and is expected to be completed in November of 2007. It will be a semi-private course, with members getting preferred tee times, and it’s located on the south side of Indiantown Road at Florida’s Turnpike. There will be nearly 400 housing units, most of them luxury, single-family homes or ... full post »

The PGA Tour can sure move fast when it wants to. Soon after announcing its new FedEX Cup logistics, it’s already changed them after getting feedback from the players and media. At issue were the three “playoff” events. Originally, the tour decreed no one would actually be eliminated from the playoffs. Yes, it was ridiculous. Now, the fields will be reduced as follows: Barclays Classic: 144 players Deutsche Bank Championships: 120 players BMW Championships: 70 players The Tour Championships will still have 30 players, those who made it through the regular season and three playoff events with the most points. I’m sure commissioner Tim Finchem, who reads ... full post »

This is my second time in St. Kitts. People keep telling me it’s the “last undiscovered island in the Caribbean.” I was here about two years ago, and people kept telling me the same thing. It doesn’t look undiscovered to me. I see a lot of people everywhere I look. I think what people mean when they say that is that it isn’t over-run by resorts. True enough, St. Kitts has only one big-time, “branded” resort, the Marriott. It’s a huge thing, with a casino reputed to be the biggest in the Caribbean, and an excellent golf course with seriously beautiful ... full post »

The Ponte Vedra Inn and Club loves architect Bobby Weed. It called in Weed to renovate its famed Ocean course in 1998, and has again called on him to re-do its other course, the Lagoon. The first order of business is to lengthen the Lagoon. It stands now at only 5,570 yards, ridiculously short by today’s standards. At the same time, they want to keep it “user-friendly,” as a contrast to the more difficult Ocean course. The Lagoon started out as a nine-holer, designed by Robert Trent Jones in the early 1960s. Nine holes were added in 1977 by Joe Lee. Officials ... full post »

The Australians have finally come up with a solution for one of golf’s biggest problems: slow play. The obvious answer – and I don’t know why I never thought of this – is to make sure you have a rugby player in your group. Police say they have charged Australian rugby legend Terry Lamb with assault after he punched fellow member Greg Davison on the 18th green at the Cabramatta Golf Club last month, sending him to the hospital. Lamb had allegedly had enough of Davison’s slow play. The only question surrounding the incident is why Lamb waited until the 18th green. Lamb, ... full post »

The time has come to start protecting homeowners from golf course owners. Nowhere is that more apparent than Myrtle Beach, where course owners are bailing out, selling their land for development and infuriating homeowners, many of whom bought their homes on the promise they would be living on a golf course forever. Others who live in golf communities are seeing condos and high-rises where once they saw fairways and greens. True enough, course owners are in a tough situation, though one largely of their own making. Myrtle Beach built golf courses in the 1990s like the government was handing out tax breaks. ... full post »

You’ve heard of “Tiger-proofing” golf courses. Who’s going to do that if Tiger is designing them? Tiger Woods announced Monday he has formed Tiger Woods Design and intends to get into the course design business. “My goal is to provide a unique collection of amazing courses all over the world that represent what I love about golf,” Woods told the Associated Press. “ The announcement doesn’t really come as a surprise. Woods has been talking about it for years, and he certainly would not be the first big-name player to cash in on the design aspect of the industry. Big-name golfers turned designers ... full post »

The new Ryder Cup points system for the U.S. makes more sense than the old one. At least it will give the captain, Paul Azinger, a chance to pick the hotter players. First of all, Azinger will get four captains picks, not two. And the new system will be based essentially on the money list. Why not? Everything else in America is. Those players in 2006 that have already earned points, those that finished in the top-10, will get one quarter of a point for every thousand dollars they won, from the PGA Championships through the end of the year. In 2007, the ... full post »

Now, I ain’t bragging or nothing, but I’ve stayed in some pretty fancy golf resorts in places all over the world and played on some of the best golf courses in the world. But, my favorite driving range of all time is a little place just outside of Valdosta, Georgia, called The Golf Place. You can see it from Interstate-75, but to get to it, you turn off Exit 11 and go through backwoods Georgia – through cotton fields, pastures, cows, chickens, the whole deal. Old, moss-draped oaks, ‘luminum house trailers, simple country folk hanging their wash outside. It’s like going back ... full post »

What, you aren’t frothing over with excitement? Vijay Singh, the first golfer to win $10 million in a season, and a three-time major winner, is the biggest name, though old-timers will certainly remember Larry Nelson, who also won three majors and 29 tournaments. It’s an indication of the worldwide lack of interest in golf’s hall of fame that Singh was actually nominated for induction last year, but postponed it for a year because, well…he had something else to do. First, I didn’t know you could do that and second, what could possibly conflict with a Hall of Fame induction? An extended practice round? There ... full post »

I like the choice of Paul Azinger as the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain. Azinger has two important qualities: he’s a competitor and he’s a cut-up. The U.S. needs both. Azinger only has a 5-7-3 Ryder Cup record, but he’s never lost a singles match in the event. After he watched highlights of himself beating beat Nick Faldo in Ryder Cup competition, he said, “Look at that. I had cancer and he still couldn’t beat me.” Faldo, who has worked with Azinger in the broadcast booth, will be the European captain. “I think he’ll bring a lot of fire,” Jim Furyk told the ... full post »