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Hawaii, Oak Hill On Tap for 2005

The LPGA returns to Hawaii with South Korea’s help, and the Champions Tour taps Oak Hill again for the SBC Championship.

lpga_champs_combo_logo.jpgIn yet another sign of the increasing importance of the Asian population to the LPGA’s popularity, South Korea’s SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System) will be sponsoring the LPGA’s return to Hawaii in 2005. The LPGA announced that it will hold a $1,000,000 event at Arnold Palmer’s course at Turtle Bay resort in February, marking the LPGA’s first Hawaiian event in nearly three years.

Meanwhile, the Champions Tour announced that it was planning on keeping the SBC Championship at Oak Hill. Since its move from the Dominion Country Club in 2002, the SBC Championship at Oak Hill has “truly been one of our players’ favorite courses”, said Rick “Screw ‘Em If They Can’t Walk” George.

The SBC Championship will be held in October, 2005.

Creamer Has Options

Paula Creamer qualifies for the Futures Tour, and works at earning her LPGA card – decisions, decisions…

paula_creamer.jpgPaula Creamer’s world is starting to open up, and she has an important decision to make: turn pro or not.

After ending up tied with Michelle Wie in the US Women’s Open earlier in the year, she decided to remain an amateur and keep her options open for Q-School.

Now, she’s sharing the medalist honors at the Futures Tour Q-School with soon-to-be pro Brittany Lincicome. Lincicome has already decided to turn pro, but Creamer is still keeping her options open after helping the United States team finish second (and personally finish seventh overall) in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championships in October.

Just 18-years-old, Creamer is currently in the LPGA qualifying finals, which start Wednesday. If she doesn’t get her LPGA card however, she still has the option of joining the Futures Tour. Saving that, she could always go to college and remain an amateur. Oddly enough, if she remains an amateur she could still compete in the Futures Tour as an amateur, and doesn’t necessarily have to turn pro.

Five’s for Freddy

Fred Couples wins his record-setting fifth Skins title after four playoff holes with Tiger Woods.

fred_couples_skins_game.jpgHow many holes do you have to win to end up as the Skins Game Champion?

For Fred Couples in this year’s Skins Game, the answer was two. After watching his fellow competitors carry over seven skins from Saturday’s first nine, Freddy opened Sunday’s Skins match with eight skins on the 10th hole. Tiger made an attempt and briefly took the lead, winning five skins worth $310,000. Then, Tiger and Fred made it interesting by playing an additional four holes and dragging a $340,000 collection of skins along with them.

Tiger left his tee shot very, very wet on the final playoff hole, then watched as Couples put his tee shot center green. Couples had three putts for the win, but needed only two from thirty-odd feet.

Adam Scott was shut out Sunday after winning two skins and $50,000 on Saturday, while Annika Sorenstam was winless. Couples won his fifth Skins Game and with the victory, became the winningest player in the history of the event.

Beer Truck Driver Earns Champions Tour Card

Ex-beer driver plus 14 others earn exemption status on the Champions Tour.

Beer TruckFormer California state amateur champion Mark Johnson, who drove a Budweiser truck for 18 years, fired an 8-under 64 on Monday to earn medalist honors at the Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament. He finished the six-round marathon at 25-under-par 407 and won by two over Tom McKnight at The King & The Bear Course.

McKnight is a former amateur standout and went even lower with a 9-under 63 on Monday. Former PGA Tour event winner Brad Bryant shot a 5-under 67 and took third place at 22-under-par 410.

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Big Break II Round-Up

Two weeks since the last BB2 update, which means two golfers gone. David’s gone after Double-D was able to hit it longer and straighter, and Colonel John’s out after losing a one-hole playoff (which took three holes) to Kip.

bb2_david_teeing.jpgIn a way, it’s a good thing that it took me so long to write up a summary of the seventh episode of Big Break II – in the week that I’ve been busy, there’s been another episode!

Last we tuned into BB2, the field of men looking for the four Nationwide Tour exemptions had been whittled to five, and we had watched as my favorite – Big Mike – had his putter fail him against Kip in the elimination challenge. I fully expected David to get eliminated during that episode; how would he and the rest of the field fare over the past two episodes?

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He Cheated

Gary Player a cheat? What’s the world coming to?

Gary Player cheated, so they say:

Recent conversation on RSG about Gary Player. What started off as a fairly innocent question – “Just how did he win all those majors?” – became colored instantly when someone dropped the hammer with two words.

“He cheated.”

Gary Player, a common cheat? I didn’t want to believe it. This same Gary Player…

…is a firm believer in doing things the right way. He recalls a time when he could have gotten away with a minor rules infraction. Instead, he reported his innocent error and was disqualified from a tournament he easily could have won. “If I had not turned myself in, I would have had to live the rest of my life with the knowledge that I had cheated… Much better is the feeling I have today that even though I left a trophy and check behind… I still have my dignity and honor.”

What’s going on here?

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Crocco Concho!

The Crocco Concho belt by Footjoy is hot on tour and in college.

Being a fashion–plate, as well as an avid watcher of golf on television, I have noticed that many of the pros seem to wear a similar distictive belt. You know the one, it’s black with the silver pointy tip and some small metallic plates around the side. Well, I finally stumbled across the hottest accessory on tour. The Crocco Concho belt, by Footjoy.

It appears that Tiger wears the Crocco belt as well as some of the other PGA top guns. Not only is it popular on the big boy tour, even these snot-nose college pukes are getting into the act. It’s practically part of the uniform now.

A Real Hell Hole

Weequahic Park Golf Course, contender for worst golf course in the US.

For years, golf publications have inundated us with lists of the best courses that can be found in America as well as the rest of the world. These numeric lists are always accompanied by a few choice quotes and some carefully manufactured PR photos, usually taken at the break of dawn, to accentuate the landscape.

Rarely do we find out which courses are the worst of the worst. A possible contender for the title may be Weequahic Park Golf Course. This public muni located in Newark, New Jersey was listed as the #4 hell hole by Maxim. Not because of the ripped up tee boxes or the unkept greens but because of the three bodies found there over a six–month period between then end of 2002 and April 2003.

Augusta National Denies… a White Man?

Augusta National denies rumors that a membership was part of a deal to lure Steve Spurrier to the University of South Carolina.

logo_masters.gifWell, it’s not so much that Augusta National has denied entrance to anyone, though I’m sure there’s been plenty of that. This time, they’ve denied rumors that a membership for former University of Florida and Washington Redskins football coach Steve Spurrier was any part of a deal to get Spurrier to coach the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.

Rumors have been flying around the Internet that since Hootie Johnson, Chairman at Augusta National, is a USC graduate and former football player there, that a possible membership would be part of a deal to lure Spurrier to Charleston. Johnson says otherwise.

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