Imagine Tim Finchem and the suits at the PGA Tour implying it was okay to use “social drugs.” That’s a picture that refuses to form in the brain. Peter Dawson, the Secretary of the Royal and Ancient, the organization who makes the golf rules for all of those unlucky enough to live outside the U.S. and Mexico, was discussing official drug-testing policy with European golf writer John Huggan. “I hope to see confirmation that drug taking is not part of golf,” Dawson said. “And I very much hope that if someone is caught, that we can differentiate between performance-enhancing and social drug ... full post »

Among the handful of golfers who can stop Tiger Woods from winning the Grand Slam, Phil Mickelson is as good a bet as anyone. When Mickelson is on, he’s as close to Woods as anybody. The trouble is, of course, you never know what wild stunt Mickelson might pull even when he is on. Mickelson said he planned to play the Shell Houston Open this year, just prior to The Masters, because officials there promised to set up the course as close to Augusta National as they can get it, according to PGA Tour.com That includes fairway width, the same kind of first ... full post »

The first time I stayed at the Sanctuary at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort, I thought someone had slipped a crown on my head while I was sleeping. I’m not used to being treated like a prince by anything other than my dogs at feeding time, but at the Sanctuary, they pretty much smother you with attention. There were times when I raced for the front door, trying desperately to open it myself. But no, they’re quick at the Sanctuary, and there was almost always someone there ahead of me. They were open and honest about their pursuit of the five-star award ... full post »

I knew I wasn’t the only one who loved this course. One of my favorite courses, the Creek Club at the Reynolds Plantation, has been named one of the top-10, new private courses in the U.S. by GOLF magazine. Designed by Jim Engh, the magazine called it “the most unique course in the Southeastern United States.” That it is. You don’t necessarily have to fire at the pins on every hole, and that makes for some different kind of golf. Here’s my piercing insight in a recent review of the course. “The Creek course can be played as a sort of three-dimensional pinball machine. ... full post »

Bobby Weed is a fine golf architect in his own right, but where he really shines is doing renovations. I played two Bobby Weed renovations this week, one in Ponte Vedra Beach and one in Deltona, where he essentially just bulldozed the existing course and came up with a brand new one. The Lagoon course at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club was the most drastic. He literally dug out five feet deep around the entire course and dumped it in a pile. Then he dug another five feet deep to find the good stuff. Then he flipped: both piles. The old course ... full post »

My favorite interstate exit in Florida is Exit 273 off I-95. You’ve probably seen it, or at least seen it advertised. All those billboards hawking the world’s largest Harley Davidson store. You should see it sometime, even if you’re not a biker. It’s the store Harley fans must see in their dreams, acres and acres of beautiful, gleaming motorcycles, all made by the American icon. Every sort of Harley accessory you could think of. There are other motorcycle shops there as well, and it’s sort of a gathering place for bikers. I was talking to one the other day, who told me ... full post »

Phil Mickelson apparently is in jeopardy of missing his scheduled debut on the 2008 PGA Tour, this week’s Buick Invitational. Mickelson has been spending time in bed battling a respiratory problem, according to his manager. It’s unclear whether or not his breathing problems are related to the fall wildfires that destroyed his neighborhood or the illness he picked up after that in Singapore. “He managed to win the HSBC Champions the following week (after the wildfires) in Shanghai but has not felt 100 percent since then,” manager T.R. Reinman said in a statement. “(His) condition worsened over the weekend and the doctor gave ... full post »

Some time ago, I predicted Fred Funk would dominate the Seniors Tour (sorry, I insist on calling it that and avoid the marketing-speak.) His win last weekend at the season-opening Master Card Championship in Hawaii with a stunning 21-under was his third Seniors Tour win in 14 starts. OK, so he’s been a force, but not exactly dominant. He finished 16th on the old boys money list last year. If he played full time, instead of splitting his schedule with the PGA Tour, it would be a different story. How’s this, though? He’s well on his way to becoming golf’s first $2 million ... full post »

ORLANDO - What did we ever do without hybrids? Hybrids continue to be hot, and have replaced putters in many stores in individual club sales, and makers continue to churn them out. Feel Golf debuted two: The 18-degree Competitor and the 21-degree Butterstick. Founders Club has one that supposedly prevents clubhead twisting. MacGregor and Nickent, of course, have new lines. Nike has its new set of SQ Sumo hybrids, which I carry in my own bag. Sonaretec has claimed to “reinvent” the hybrid, claiming its new HB-001 has both more forgiveness and workability than any long iron. Both workability and forgiveness? Wow. Wilson ... full post »

— Simulators are always popular at the show, and one of the most popular was About Golf’s Sim Surround. It shows a high-definition, crystal-clear screen of St. Andre3ws, so like-life you’d swear you were there on the hallowed grounds. One guy stood in front of the simulator with his driver and took a mighty swat. The simulator is supposed to show you where your ball went, just like really playing the hole. When he looked up, expecting to see a 300-yard blast, the screen said “The password was not correct” He skulked off. Other people moved off to the next exhibit. — Some of ... full post »

ORLANDO – Everybody, or at least all males, want to hit the golf ball further. Here are some of my favorite big-boy toys from the PGA Show for long-johns. — I need to get a “Fat Bastard” driver. Their motto is “If you have the balls, we have the club.” It is, indeed a fat bastard, with a 500 cc clubhead. That’s illegal, of course, or against the rules, I should say, but I like the feeling of being illegal. Actually, the club doesn’t feel gigantic in your hands like you think it might. After all, it’s only 40 ccs bigger than the ... full post »

ORLANDO – The Chinese are everywhere these days, including the PGA Show. Everyone, especially businesspeople, is all a-titter about the economic potential of the sleeping giant. A Chinese delegation gave its first PGA Show press conference at the convention center, one of the better-attended events of the show. The gist of the event was that yes indeed, China is by far the fastest-growing emerging market in the world for golf, but they need our help. Zhang Xiaoning, vice chairman of the China Golf Association, said it can get more help from U.S. PGA pros than it can from the government, which still ... full post »

ORLANDO - Weird and not-so-weird news and notes from the 2008 PGA Show: — Adidas Golf has taken the current golf club fad, lowering the moment of inertia (MOI), to a new low. It’s building its new SHOES with a low MOI. Adidas’ Tour360 LTD shoes have a low center of gravity (“CG” in golfer terminology– another current fad) “to help golfers hit the ball more solidly.” The company takes about three thousand words to explain that, in the end, what it did was stick a thinner sole in the shoe. Thus, the golfer stands a whopping 2.5 millimeters closer to the ground. I ... full post »

ORLANDO - Putters are always a big deal at the PGA Show and this one is no different. Most of the major makers and many of the off-brands are introducing new putters here. High MOI (moment of inertia) is the hot trend these days. Wilson unveiled five, within two lines. The 8870 series is made of three, different-sized stainless steel mallets that have a urethane face insert and micro grooves. Nike has its all-green, high MOI IC putter to help “visually blend with the putting green.” This eliminates “visual noise,” Nike officials said. Only Nike can say this sort of stuff. Odyssey has ... full post »

ORLANDO - Bad golf inventions are usually either overly technical or laughably cheap. There are plenty of both at the PGA Show this year. One sure-fire indication of the overly-technical is when you see guys wearing white lab coats. They’re not really scientists, they’re just playing scientists. One sure-fire way to spot the laughably cheap is when the people manning the booth are more aggressive than George Bush in the War Room. – A company called nFlight is selling fitting software, an interactive, 3-D virtual fitting application. If that isn’t overly technical, try this: It’s algorithm-based. Algorithms don’t belong in golf. — Flight ... full post »

ORLANDO - I finally got into the 2008 PGA Show alive and intact, despite security. When I tried to enter the indoor demo range, an elderly security man pounced on me, thrusting a hand-held machine directly at my chest. I thought I was about to get tasered, and readied a round-house right. I specialize in knocking out old men and the infirm. Turns out, he was scanning the bar code on my I.D. badge. Spared from an assault charge, I started the first leg of the 10-mile – literally, it’s 10 miles! – journey through every sort of golf gadget and gizmo ... full post »

Every now and then in this job, a rare treat comes along. Every now and then I get to play a private course so good it makes you drool, a course very few others get on. I’m not trying to brag, it’s just a nice perk. And so I found myself last week on the Secession Golf Club, an ultra-exclusive club outside of Hilton Head, SC, on tiny Gibbes Island. This is a course most golfers have heard of, but few have played. It’s always ranked high in various golf magazines. It is a reputation well-earned. Secession is a superb course, an homage ... full post »

You always know what you’re getting when you see the names Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, more so than most other golf architects. You get a traditional, low-key course short on length but heavy on strategy. That’s what the private Chechesse Creek Club in Okatie is all about. It’s a course not so much carved through classic, South Carolina low country; it’s more like it was a very expensive gardening project. As might be expected, they moved little dirt. The tee boxes are only slightly higher than their surroundings, with no fancy flower boxes or ornate steps. Only the pushed-up greens show evidence ... full post »

I’m not sure the good Lord intended shrimp and grits to be eaten in the same mouth at the same time, but since I’m in the South Carolina lowcountry, I had to try. Blackstone’s Café in downtown Beaufort, South Carolina gives you a big bowl with a heaping of grits, covered with melted cheese and shrimp. I’ve eaten some weird food for breakfast – squid in Malaysia, reindeer sausage in Alaska and something that appeared to be border collie in Vietnam – but this is the first time I’ve ever had shrimp for breakfast, even though I’m a son of the South ... full post »