Keeping the industry posted

AFTER 105 years golf has been readmitted to the Olympic Games. Together with Rugby Sevens golf was reinstated for the 2016 and 2020 games after a vote Friday by the International Olympic Committee. Each sport received majority support in separate votes after leading athletes and officials from both camps gave presentations, including a taped video message from Tiger Woods and other top golf professionals. Woods has indicated he would be keen to play in the Olympics if golf were accepted for 2016. “There are millions of young golfers worldwide who would be proud to represent their country,” Woods said from the Presidents Cup in San Francisco. “It would be an honor for anyone who plays this game to become an Olympian.” Golf was approved 63-27 with two abstentions. Rugby was voted in 81-8 with one abstention.

THE Australian PGA Championship, presented by Coca-Cola, has scored a major coup by getting three of the hottest young golfers on the planet to tee it up at the Hyatt Regency Coolum in December. Michael Sim, Marc Leishman and James Nitties will line up at the and all have one intention – to win the PGA Tour of Australasia’s season-ending event. In a massive bonus for Aussie golf fans the Aussie young guns have announced that they will compete at the PGA of Australia’s flagship event to be held at the Hyatt Regency Coolum from December 10-13. News of the talented trio’s inclusion in the field is a further boost to the event which most recently announced the inclusion of three time World Major winner Vijay Singh and defending champion, Australia’s number one golfer Geoff Ogilvy. The 2009 Australian PGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola is the final event on the Australasian Tour and OneAsia Super Series calendars for 2009. Tickets for the Australian PGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola went on sale last week. Tickets can be purchased by calling the PGA Hotline on 1800 009 499. For more details go to the PGA of Australia website www.pga.org.au.


A UNIQUE Australia v New Zealand Golf Challenge, featuring former US Open winners Geoff Ogilvy and Michael Campbell and a host of sports and entertainment celebrities will be staged at Sydney’s Moore Park Golf centre in December. Ogilvy and Campbell will head a host of sports stars and celebrities for the Australia -- New Zealand Golf Skins Challenge on December 7. Competing alongside Ogilvy and Campbell will be rock legend Jimmy Barnes, INXS’s Tim Farriss, Rugby League stars Nathan Hindmarsh, Nathan Cayless and Benji Marshall, Rugby Union personalities Phil Kearns and Matthew Burke as well as golfers Peter O’Malley, Greg Turner and Masterchef Australia’s Lucas Parsons. The charity based golf tournament will combine professional golf, amateurs and entertainment in a unique format to be telecast on TEN and ONE. The event will raise funds for Streetworx, a youth charity devoted to helping at risk and disadvantaged youth using golf as a tool, as well as to other Australian and New Zealand Charities. The tournament will be staged at Moore Park Golf Course, centrally located near Sydney’s CBD and will be preceded by a Gala Dinner and Concert Launch at Doltone House Pyrmont on December 6. Public entry into the event will be free of charge, however registration prior to the event is essential. For more information or to register to attend log on to www.skinschallenge.org.au

THE rapidly developing OneAsia Tour will put the international golf spotlight on China this week with the staging of the $600,000 Midea China Classic, the third event of the inaugural OneAsia season. The field for the tournament at the Nick Faldo-designed layout at the Royal Orchid International Golf Club in Shunde, south of Guangzhou includes some of Australia’s top PGA professionals. The big-hitting Kurt Barnes will be among a strong contingent of Australians competing and he is relishing the return to China after winning April’s Sofitel Zhongshan IGC Open in Nanjing on the mainland’s domestic circuit, which marked his first overseas victory. Before winning in Nanjing in April, Barnes finished tied 11th at the previous week’s US$2.2 million Volvo China Open in Beijing, which marked the first event on the inaugural OneAsia circuit and was co-sanctioned with the European Tour. However, Barnes was unable to compete at OneAsia’s second event, last month’s Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open, as the Australian was competing in the second stage of the Japan Tour Qualifying School. Liang Wenchong and former champion Zhang Lianwei will be among the local stars at the Midea China Classic, now in its fifth year. Zhang won the 2006 edition a year after losing a play-off to compatriot Yuan Hao in the inaugural event and has also competed in the last two editions. Liang, Asia’s number one in 2007 and joint runner-up in last month’s Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open in Japan, will be gunning for his first victory in the Midea China Classic, which was won by Thai legend Thaworn Wiratchant in 2007 and Korean teenager Noh Seung-yul last year. OneAsia plans to offer 12-15 events next year and 17-20 annually from 2011.

AUSSIE ace Michael Sim recorded a tie for 55th in the PGA Tour's Turning Stone Resort Championship last week. It was his first PGA Tour start since he won his third Nationwide Tour event of '09 in August and earned an automatic promotion to the big tour. Sim got off to a rough start when he made a quadruple-bogey seven on the sixth hole of his first round. He recovered and went on to play the next 66 holes in nine under par, with rounds of 75, 66, 72, 70.

QUEENSLAND’S Callaway Order of Merit champion Eddie Barr had an outstanding year on the Sunshine Tour with four title wins plus 24 top-10 finishes. Barr was unstinting in his praise and gratitude for all of the sponsors, golf clubs and event organisers after capping his year by finishing third at the Howeston Pro Am on Wednesday. However he was comically honest when he said, on receiving his Callaway award: “I would like to say that I look forward to defending my title next year, but in some ways I hope I don’t have that opportunity, because that would mean that I will be living my dream on the European Tour.” The PGA of Australia website www.pga.org.au reports that Barr, who successfully negotiated first stage of European Tour School the week before, talked about his 2009 season “It has been a long year in many ways, I have played more tournaments in a row than ever before but I really feel it has helped me to prepare for Europe as well as the Australasian Tour Events at the end of the year”. Barr also won the 2004 Callaway Order of Merit and Callaway Managing Director Frank McCarthy is excited to see what this victory can do for his career. “Eddie has been a part of our Callaway team for a number of years now and it is great to see him fulfilling the potential we all know he is capable of.” This was the seventh year that Callaway has been the sponsor of the Queensland Sunshine Tour Order of Merit and McCarthy confirmed his commitment into the future “Callaway is more than happy to once again support the 2010 Sunshine Tour Season, and in addition to our support of the Order of Merit, we hope we can also inspire the stars of tomorrow through the Sunshine Tour’s Callaway Expression Sessions”. For his efforts, Barr won two return airfares to Los Angeles, with transport to visit the USA Callaway factory in Carlsbad, California. Meals and accommodation at the Hilton Garden Inn in Carlsbad are also included. During his stay Barr will be personally fitted with a set of Callaway Golf Clubs including 3 woods and 9 irons, a personalised Staff Bag and an Odyssey Putter.

AN indication of how important the Australian PGA’s pro-am circuits are to professional golfers across the nation came from the Queensland Sunshine Tour’s Brad Andrews. After finishing second this year to Eddie Barr for the Callaway Order of Merit title Andrews, who won the OOM in 2006 and 2007 told the PGA website www.pga.org.au about how it had helped his career: “I have finished 1st, 1st, 3rd and 2nd in the last four years and with the way the points work, I think winning the Order of Merit really rewards the player who has not only played the best all year, but supported all of the smaller regional events as well. I took a lot of confidence away from my two victories and I hope Eddie can do the same”.


WHILE Eddie Barr won the Callaway Queensland Order of Merit with 345 points in a runaway from Brad Andrews (275) there were some other interesting statistics from the results posted on the PGA of Australia’s website www.pga.org.au: Barr won $38,492 from playing in 63 events but the biggest moneywinner was Michael Wright, who collected $52,072 from 30 events; the busiest players were Wade P Brunjes, who teed it up in 73 PGA tournaments and Tim Porter, one behind on 72; the Sunshine Tour competitors played for a total prizemoney distribution of $943,738.

ENTRIES for the European Senior Tour Qualifying School close on October 22 and the success of recent Australian graduates and of those players from the 2008 School is an inspiration. A new set of hopefuls will tee it up at the Pestana Golf Resort, on Portugal’s Algarve, for the 17th edition from November 16-19. Sydney club professional David Merriman, who won the School in 2006 has gone on to win more than $450,000 in three years and is currently 11th in the money list. South African Bertus Smit, who finished second behind Jimmy Heggarty at last year’s Qualifying School Final, leads the 18 graduates so far in 2009 after his maiden victory in the lucrative Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open. Smit is currently sixth in the Order of Merit having amassed about $166,000 in prize money from his 12 appearances this season.

AUSSIE star Peter Senior is looking to increase his lead in the chase for the European Seniors Tour Rookie of the Year award. Senior has raced to the front on the moneylist with earnings of about $153,000 after playing in just three events. Senior, who has finished, fourth and second twice, leads England’s Roger Chapman by about $3500. Senior has one more event – the $800,000 OKI Castellon Seniors Tour Championship in Spain on November 6 - in what seems certain to be the start of a lucrative second golf career.

GOLF'S Olymic Format. Nowthat golf again is an Olympic sport how many players will be in the team and how and where will the events be played? The International Golf Federation, the representative body for golf by the IOC, has proposed a format of 72-hole individual stroke play for both men and women. That format was recommended because top players felt that was the fairest and best way to identify a champion, mirroring the format used in golf's major championships. In case of a tie for either first, second or third place, a three-hole playoff is recommended to determine the medal winner(s). The IGF recommended an Olympic field of 60 players for each of the men's and women's competition, utilizing the Official World Golf Ranking as a method of determining eligibility. The top 15 world-ranked players would be eligible for the Olympics, regardless of the number of players from a given country. Beyond the top 15, players would be eligible based on world ranking, with a maximum of two available players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15.

WHILE South America’s Rio de Janeiro might make for a spectacular host city for the 2016 Summer Olympiad it has only two two full-length, 18-hole golf courses in the city of 14 million people. According to the authoritative US golf website www.golf.com “it is by no means clear whether Olympic golf will take place there or in an adjoining region. Among the candidates are the coastal resort of Buzios, 100 miles to the east, and Sao Paulo, 275 miles to the southwest. John Byers, director of rules and international affairs for the Brazilian Golf Confederation, said that when it comes to the logistics of site selection, “we’re moving onto uncharted waters here.” It was still unclear whether men’s and women’s golf at the 2016 Games would be contested on the same golf course or on two layouts. Details are likely to be made in a joint decision involving the International Golf Federation and Brazilian Olympic authorities. Brazil’s winning Olympic bid at a budgeted cost of $14 billion did not anticipate construction of a new golf venue for the 2016 Games. But it is hard to imagine a private developer not jumping at the chance to fund such an undertaking. The long-term goodwill and publicity likely would prove to be a valuable asset.”

GOLF followers with a Fox Sports TV subscription will have plenty to watch this week. There will be live telecasts of the European Tour’s Portugese Open, the US Tour’s Justin Timberlake Open in Las Vegas, the US PGA Tour’s Nationwide Tour’s Miccosukee Open and the US PGA Champions Tour’s Administaff Classic from Thursday night to Monday morning. Go to FoxSports website TV guide for full details.

THE Golf Show on Fox Sports which is screened tonight at 7.30 and 10.30 and repeated tomorrow at 7am and 12.30pm, will have a full review of the Presidents Cup, where Golf Show host Brett Ogle played a starring commentators role. This week there will be previews of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children’s Open in Las Vegas and an update on end-of-season news. PGA Members Ossie Moore and Ben Doney will present their informative rules and tips segment.

THE US Presidents Cup team roster was expanded by one, just in time for Sunday’s singles session. And it proved to be quite an inspirational addition – Amy Mickelson. The wife of world number three player Phil Mickelson’s spirited wife, who is battling breast cancer, arrived Saturday night and greeted her husband when he got back to the team hotel following his afternoon four-ball match.

THE Victorian Golf Association has announced that Subaru again has agreed to be the naming rights sponsor of the 2010 Victorian Open Championship. The 2010 Subaru Victorian Open will be held in Melbourne over 72-holes from Thursday January 7 to Sunday January 10 at the Spring Valley Golf Club. Being the first Australasian PGA Tour event in the New Year, it’s expected that a top quality field will be participating for prizemoney of approximately $115,000. First played in 1957, the Victorian Open honour roll boasts a who’s who of Australian golf and has provided the initial major tournament break through opportunity for numerous talented young players, including this year’s winner in Ashley Hall. PGA Chief Executive Officer Max Garske said the Victorian Open has produced a long line of champion golfers, many of whom have gone on to achieve great
success on the world stage. “Some of Australia’s greatest champions including Greg Norman, Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle, Ian Baker- Finch and Robert Allenby all have their name engraved on this prestigious trophy, and the PGA is proud to have this tournament back on the PGA Tour of Australasia schedule in 2010.”

AUSSIE Paul Gow’s website www.paulgow.com reports that he will have to finish in the top two this week at the Miccosukee Championship in Miami if he is to have any chance of making the elite field for the US PGA’s Nationwide Tour Championship the following week. Gow on Friday missed his 14th weekend cut in 23 starts this year despite an eagle at the final hole in the Chattanooga Classic. With about $60,000 in earnings this year Gow is 98th on the moneylist and needs a big week to reach the top 60 and so qualify for the $1.1 million Tour Championship. Otherwise he will need to wait for Stage Two of the PGA Tour School in November.

TIGER Woods and caddie Steve Williams this year celebrated 10 years competing together on the world’s golf circuits during which time the world number one player has enjoyed 83 wins worldwide including 14 majors. The official Tiger Woods website www.tigerwoods.com in the section introducing the Tiger support group reports that Steve joined Team Tiger back in the US Spring of 1999, and ever since both Tiger and Steve have been the most dominant duo in the game. “Steve's so positive out there, keeps me upbeat,” Woods said. “I get on him, he gets on me. We have a good time out there. Even if I'm playing good or bad, we're going to enjoy each other's company.” Williams said of Woods: “It's one of those things, when you find that perfect partner, you're just so calm with each other. We've become very good mates. We socialise together. It's one of those things that's developed, not something I planned on happening.” Over the years, Williams has caddied various employers, including Greg Norman, Raymond Floyd and Ian Baker Finch, to the tune of 75 professional victories. Steve is also the only caddie in history to have won all four of golf's professional majors.

SPANISH great Seve Ballesteros has described himself as "the luckiest man alive", a year on from suffering a life-threatening brain tumour. Ballesteros, who has had four operations and is still undergoing radiotherapy, said he had required tremendous patience to endure his treatment, and told fans not to feel sorry for him the website www.guardian.co.uk reported. In an interview with the BBC commentator Peter Alliss, to be broadcast tomorrow’s Inside Sport program, Ballesteros said: “I've had a very good life. I'm sure that some people will feel sorry for me or maybe cry when they see this program. But I feel very happy and a very lucky person because throughout my life I have had so many great moments and I feel that I live two or three more lives than the average person. This thing that happened to me is a very little thing compared to other people who have tougher times. They didn't have the opportunity to live life so intensely and as well as I did.” Ballesteros lost three quarters of his left eye during his operations and has walked around his indoor swimming pool for four kilometres a day to build up his strength. He said he can now hit full shots and play on the course but his impaired vision means he struggles with his putting. “Nine months ago I was feeling I was useless. I couldn't walk and I couldn't do anything and progressively I set up goals. One of them was to hit balls and play golf,” he said.

RISING world star Rory McIlroy is probably the most communicative golf pro in the world with not only his own excellent website at www.rorymcilroy.com but also a Facebook page (which has about 3000 Friends) and he Twitters – especially when his football team Manchester United is in action. A recent Rory website daily blog informed the world that in golf, as in life, it often is not what you know but who you know. In explaining how, because of rain, he was unable to play a practice round at Kingsbarns early in the week of the Dunhill Links Championship, McIlroy revealed: “We had a bit of lunch at St Andrews and then a friend of mine who works there opened a bay at the driving range for me and Dad, sorted us out some Pro V1s, so we had a good old practice in the dry whilst everyone else was out on the range getting a good soaking!”

McIlroy, who is leading the European Tour’s moneylist and the Race to Dubai with winnings of about $4 million, is one of the world’s busiest and most travelled elite golfers. The 20-year-old will be playing his 23rd event when he tees it up in the Portugal Open this week and he plans to play another five events before year’s end. By the time he competes in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup at the end of November he will have played in 12 countries this year. And even when he is not competing McIlroy stays busy with his golf career. As he revealed on his website www.rorymcilroy.com website last week: “I'm having a week off now and plan to have a bit of r and r and I've also got a sponsor's thing to do up at Lough Erne on Friday so I think I'll be taking Theo (his Labradoodle dog) with me and enjoy some time up there.”

AUSTRALIAN golf courses and their superintendents have left an indelible impression on a recent visitor to Australia, the Royal &Ancient’s Steve Isaac, the Australian Golf Course Superintendents Association newsletter, The Cut, reported last week. “In an article that appeared this week on The R&A website, Isaac had nothing but praise for the way Australian superintendents were rising to the challenge of producing firm and dry playing surfaces at a time when critical resources, such as water, were diminishing. Issac commented: “The R&A, the AGCSA and Golf Australia share a similar philosophy with regard to course management and presentation.” Isaac was impressed by the Australian philosophy of producing firm and dry playing surfaces, focusing more on playing performance than appearance. “Addressing water restrictions has forced the hand of Australian golf clubs, though they seemed to be well positioned to adapt to a limited supply and the need to find alternative sources to drinking water for irrigation,” he said.

AARON Baddley’s website www.badds.com reveals that he supports an unusual charity drive with the headcovers he has on his golf bag. As he explains: “Daphne’s make ‘Tobo’ my little koala headcover. ‘Tobo’ means “let it fly” in Japanese and for every koala headcover sold by Daphne’s we make a donation to the Save The Koala Foundation in Australia.

THE Presidents Cup had everything when it came to sporting celebrities at Harding Park in San Francisco last week. First off there was basketball legend Michael Jordan, who was a volunteer assistant on the US team. In the gallery was another legend in Barry Bonds, the baseball record-holding slugger watching Tiger Woods along with Jim Plunkett, who led the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl. Golf superstar parents B.J. and Bo Wie, whose daughter Michelle is one of the biggest name in women's golf, were also among the Woods-Stricker gallery. And later in the week former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was spotted in the gallery. On the opening tee was Whistling Straits golf course and St Andrews Old Course Hotel owner Herb Kohler, multiple major championship winners such as British Open great Peter Thomson and Dave Stockton, former U.S. Open champion and San Francisco native Ken Venturi and upcoming Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin.