KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is to return as the main and title sponsor of the International Open Golf Championship of The Netherlands on The 2004 European Tour International Schedule. The KLM Open will have an increased prize fund of O1,200,000 (minimum) and the tournament will be played on August 5-8 at a venue to be announced. ...

Harbor Lakes in Granbury, Texas, a Phelps Golf Design layout, has recently been ranked the top new public course in North Texas and The Hill Country for 2003 by avidgolfer magazine. ...

Cedar Falls, Iowa-based UPRIGHT Golf adds the new multi-purpose UPRIGHT Golf Stick to its golf product line. ...

Ahead unveils its 2004 Official U.S. Open Collection, featuring an array of Ahead products including Ahead Headgear, the Ahead Authentics apparel line and the Ahead Heavy Metals line of golf accessories. ...

Members of the Champions Tour Tournament Association announce at their Annual Meeting Welcome Dinner that former PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman has been named 2003 winner of the "Bruno Award". ...

USA Network's "PGA TOUR Sunday" (December 7, 11 a.m. Live ET/9 a.m. PT) will take a look at some of the most heartbreaking stories ever told about players at the PGA Tour's Qualifying School. ...

Nakoma Resort and Spa and the Dragon Golf Course at Gold Mountain is named a top golf resort by The Golf Insider, one of the industry's leading golf-travel-rating publications. ...

The Executive Tournament Committee of The National Father & Son Team Classic announces that Slazenger Golf Products has agreed to a multi-year Title Sponsorship agreement. ...

The newly introduced Deep Red II Putter from Wilson Golf maximizes weight distribution for stability and control through the use of a high-tensile aluminum magnesium alloy insert. Its milled, flat face helps promote a true roll on every putt. ...

Steve Espinoza and his son, John, were honored last month at the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association's 37th Annual Conference and Trade Show held at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. The father and son team were presented with a special plaque for the design and development of "John's Course," a layout designed for the exclusive use of handicapped children.

Before leaving for the Presidents Cup in South Africa, Peter Lonard discussed a new addition to his bag, the Zen Oracle Tour Putter. Lonard won in Four Ball with Stephen Leaney and in singles against Fred Funk after getting off to a slow start with two losses in early rounds. The Presidents Cup ended in a tie.

Q.: Peter, one of the things that you've done over the last few weeks, or been fortunate enough to have  had happened to you, I suppose, more than anything else, was meeting a guy at the American Express Tournament who said he'd make you a putter. And, just a few weeks later, one turned up in your locker - The Zen Putter - you must be pretty happy with it, by all accounts.

PETER LONARD: (laughs) Yeah, very happy with it.  I've been fiddling, you know, all year with putters and, uh, I haven't really come up with one that I'm 100% happy with. I had this guy come up to me at the AmEx and says, 'Can I make a putter for you?' And I said 'Everyone else has, too, so you might as well.'

Anyway, a couple of weeks later, there it is in the locker and it's fantastic.  I haven't seen him since, don't know what his name is, but it's a wonderful putter, it's really well balanced,  it's got a real soft feel that I like. I'm hoping that it'll be the one and that I won't be swapping it for a long time.

Q.: Have you seen any of the other guys using a model of that type?

PETER LONARD: Never seen it; never seen one before, so it's totally new, just the putter guys on the circuit, there at Tampa (the last tournament). They all came over and had a look at it and they're all quite excited  - just the way the shaft was actually bent, they thought it was a great piece of engineering or whatever you call it to do it, and so far it's a wonderful putter.

Q.: So, the take out shaft is on an angle, is it?  Does it actually bend - how far down the shaft?  Just explain what you meant by 'bent?'

PETER LONARD: Well, the putter shaft isn't allowed to bent any higher then 6" of the ground, I think it is; that's a blind man's term: I think it might be a little more technical then that, but that's basically it.  So about 6" from the ground it starts bending and it bends backwards and inserts itself at the back of the putter. So the putter itself is actually - the putter faces forward at the shaft, so the shaft doesn't get in the alignment of the ball, which is something that's happened with a lot of putters. They sort of cross the center of the ball, which isn't a big deal, but it definitely impedes your ability to line it up, I think.  So I just got to address that, and, of course, it's got the hole in the middle so you can do like some little practice drills with it before you hit off. I think it's a wonderful product.

Lonard spoke with Sydney, Australia-based journalist Bruce Young. This interview is provided by Zen Oracle Tour.