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| A Look Back: July 15 1923: Bobby Jones earns his first U.S. Open championship by defeating Bobby Cruickshank in an 18-hole playoff at Inwood (N.Y.) Country Club. 1972: Lee Trevino edges Jack Nicklaus by one stroke to win the British Open at Muirfield, crushing any hopes of the Golden Bear achieving the Grand Slam. 1978: Jack Nicklaus wins his second British Open title by besting Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Tom Kite, and Simon Owen at the Old Course at St. Andrews. 1984: Hollis Stacy wins the U.S. Women's Open over Rosie Jones, at Salem (Mass.) Country Club. 1990: Betsy King defends her U.S. Women's Open title by one shot over Patty Sheehan. |
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Tours
Nationwide, one of the country's largest insurance and financial service
organizations, and the PGA Tour enter into a five-year partnership, beginning
in 2003, for Nationwide to become the umbrella sponsor of what currently is known
as the Buy.com Tour.
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Legal
Golf Pride grip maker Eaton Corporation says it intends to challenge a
lawsuit filed by Winn, Inc., and Ben Huang alleging its Whisper golf grip infringes
the latter's patents.
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Equipment
Following the final Senior Tour major of the year, the Ford Senior Players Championship,
Softspikes announces that at least 75 percent of the field for each major
wore its brand of spikes. As well, 86 percent of plastic cleat-wearers at the
PGA Tour's Greater Milwaukee Open choose the company's Black Widow spikes.
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more on Softspikes at the Ford Senior Players Championship...
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more on Softspikes at the Greater Milwaukee Open...
Business
With the first half of 2002 officially over, Cleveland Golf announces it
is already 37 percent ahead of 2001 in year-to-date shipments.
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Callaway
Golf is to release its 2002 second quarter results on Thursday, July 18. That
release will be followed by a 2 p.m. PDT conference call hosted by company executives
Ron Drapeau and Brad Holiday.
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People
Sonartec Golf, manufacturer of premium fairway woods and drivers, promotes Kathy
Godwin to vice president. Godwin has been director of sales and marketing
since the company began in 1999.
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Steve
Gilligan joins Karakal Golf Grips as National Sales Manager. He plans to set
up a distributor network for the company.
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Technology
Through its relationship with more than 1,000 golf courses in the United States,
Golfer's Guide will assist GolfUS.com in soliciting more tee times
for its online auction site while providing Internet services to its golf course
clients.
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Briefly
For the first time, The Golf Channel will televise player news conferences
from Muirfield, the site of next week's British Open Championship. ... The Hardee's
Senior Tour will be at the Crossing Country Club July 18, offering any golfer
a chance to compete just for the experience for a $60 registration fee. To learn
more call the tour office at 423-929-0962. ... Shaft maker Aldila announces
the resignation of Marvin M. "Vinny" Giles III, from its Board of Directors,
effective immediately, for personal reasons.
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Reader's Forum The Masters and PGA Championships use a sudden death playoff format. The U.S. Open uses an 18-hole playoff, while the British Open uses a three-hole aggregate playoff to break its ties. Which of the three formats do you prefer and why -- or would you like to see another format implemented? Let us know your opinions by sending your responses to info@gpagolf.com with the subject line RE: playoff. Also include your first initial and last name, along with your email address. |
People, Places and
Things
Norman
Hits Ace with Doonbeg
Greg Norman's newest design, Doonbeg Golf Club, officially opened July 9. As part of the inauguration, the two-time British Open champion defeated Irish Ryder Cup star Padraig Harrington 2 and 1 in an exhibition, then the U.S. defeated Great Britain-Ireland 15 1/2 to 8 1/2 in the 2002 Palmer Cup matches.
Norman has completed more than two dozen courses around the world, but this is his first in Ireland. When asked during the opening press conference how he'd compare Doonbeg to his other designs, Norman replied, "I'd put this right up at number one."
"I estimate I've walked over 200 miles up and down these sand dunes in 23 site visits, and that tells you the love affair that I have with this piece of property," he said. "Doonbeg is the epitome of what links golf is all about. This is probably the most natural experience that modern golf has ever delivered."
Despite losing to the Great White Shark, Harrington was equally effusive.
"Boy, that was fun," said Harrington after the match. "It reminded me of playing golf as a kid when you'd play the same shot 10 different ways. I really didn't think anyone would design a golf course like this in this day and age. It is true links."
Golf critics also have given Doonbeg praise. In its August issue, Golf Digest stated, "Doonbeg's natural setting is so spectacular that it will surely take its place as an Ireland 'must-play' soon, if it hasn't already." Noting Doonbeg's location midway between Ballybunion and Lahinch - legendary courses that are both in Ireland's top 10 - Golf Magazine concluded that Doonbeg is destined to join them as an "Irish shrine." Sports Illustrated proclaimed the course to be "Greg Norman's Mona Lisa" and rated Doonbeg's hole 14 and hole 15 as the best par-3 and par-4 in southwest Ireland even before the course was complete.
Norman would not name a favorite hole - "I love them all to tell you the truth" - but said of the 111-yard 14th, "When we finally decided to put the green there, I said to Buddy Darby from Kiawah, 'This is probably going to be comparable to the seventh hole at Pebble Beach.'"
Doonbeg Golf Club is the creation of Kiawah Development Partners (Kiawah Island, S.C.) in association with Landmark National (Upper Marlborough, Md.). Their last joint effort was at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, where they co-sponsored the 1991 Ryder Cup Matches with the PGA of America. The Ocean Course also hosted the 1997 World Cup, which Harrington and Paul McGinley won for Ireland.
Like The Ocean Course, Doonbeg Golf Club was inaugurated with an international match-play competition. Named in honor of legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, the Palmer Cup presented by Pennzoil pits the top eight college golfers from the United States against their counterparts from Great Britain and Ireland. Led by captain and Ben Hogan Award winner D.J. Trahan of Clemson University, the U.S. squad won for the first time on European soil in convincing fashion.
"The course exceeded everybody's expectations," said Bill Haas, Trahan's Palmer Cup teammate and fellow All-American, who clinched the U.S. victory in the afternoon singles. "The greens were the perfect speed to make putts. Every shot you're thinking, trying to hit a hook in there or cut in there with the wind. It was a lot of fun to play."
Doonbeg is set along 1.5 miles of crescent-shaped beach encircling Doughmore Bay in southwest Ireland. Pounding ocean waves are visible from the green, fairway, or tee of 16 of the 18 holes. The par-72, 6,885-yard course features a single loop of nine holes out and nine holes back, weaving through centuries-old dunes that reach nearly 100 feet.
Norman employed a "least disturbance" philosophy in routing his course through the marram-grass dunes, as 14 of Doonbeg's greens and 12 of its fairways were simply mowed. The most natural layout of the best 18 holes amidst the dunes resulted in an uncommon combination: five par-3s and five par-5s.
Doonbeg was considered Ireland's ideal links setting as early as 1892 by officers of the Scottish Black Watch Regiment. Instead they selected Lahinch, which unlike Doonbeg was accessible in an era when rail transportation was essential. Today, Doonbeg's location is an asset. The course is surrounded by pristine cattle-grazing land. Natural attractions such as the Burren, the Cliffs of Baltard, and the Cliffs of Moher are nearby, while Shannon International Airport is only 40 miles away.
Like many traditional Irish links, Doonbeg Golf Club is a private club with some public play. Interest has been high for the international memberships, with 149 paid members as of the grand opening. Nonmember greens fees are £185 (about $180). When complete, the site will contain a luxury hotel, a spa, and a village of golf cottages with a pub, restaurant, practice facility, and golf shop. Initial on-site accommodations are expected by 2004.
For more information, call 1-866-DOONBEG or visit www.doonbeggolfclub.com.