People
Golf course architect Rees Jones has been selected to receive the 2004 Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. The award presentation will take place at the GCSAA Dinner Show, February 14, during the association's 75th International Golf Course Conference and Show, February 9-14, in San Diego.
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Approximately six months after Mark King assumed the role of CEO and President of TaylorMade-adidas Golf, the company has announced several organizational changes. In addition to other personnel promotions and appointments, Edward Hughes is named Senior Vice President Global Marketing/General Manager of North America, TaylorMade; and Sean Toulon becomes Senior Vice President of Brand Management and Creation, TaylorMade.
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Events
A new series of seminars for business executives who want to maximize their use of golf as a business tool wll be conducted by the Academy for Conscious Golf & Business based in Ojai, Calif. The seminars were created and are being led by the Academy's founder, Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., and Mark Grody, founder and president of corporategolf.com.
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Marketing
The Wilderness at Fortune Bay GC in Minnesota becomes the 10th Kemper Sports-managed club to sign on to use the Cybergolf Broadcast/Email Marketing System to help increase revenues and stay connected to its players through the easy-to-use E-mail newsletter, web-special & online customer survey features. Cybergolf will also build a Web site for the club.
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Equipment
Volvik Golf Balls, distributed exclusively by Florida-based FLGolf, have been popular with golfers at Fox Creek Golf Club in Lydia, S.C. In eight weeks the club has ordered four shipments of the golf balls.
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Technology
Clubessential, LLC, the leading provider of online communications for the club industry, is pleased to announce the release of a new Web site statistics module.
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Business
TaylorMade-adidas Golf announces that currency-neutral sales for the second quarter increased 4 percent compared to the prior year. The underlying second quarter growth was primarily a result of increased focus on the adidas Golf brand and the TaylorMade brand irons.
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U.S. Amateur champion Ricky Barnes decided to forego defense of that title and turn professional. At his first pro tournament, The International outside of Denver this week, Barnes answered media questions and discussed his goals for the rest of the year.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: You are not going to go back and defend your title at the Amateur. Now you are playing for the real dough. Why don't you make a couple comments about your feelings coming into this week and about the change? You've had an opportunity to play out here as an amateur, and now you are playing out here for real. Why don't you make a couple comments about that coming into the week.

RICKY BARNES: First and foremost, I'd like to thank the Vickers family for giving me the opportunity to have my first start here at the INTERNATIONAL. You know, you always need an exemption to get in and start somewhere and this is a great place. You know, I've had a lot of time to think about not defending the Amateur title, and this is just a good time for me to, I think, move on with my career.

Fortunately, I've been able to get the opportunity to play in some tournaments over here in the next couple months before Q-School to hopefully avoid it. I don't know if many of you know, I've been fortunate, I've signed with Callaway. They have done a great job over there and I'm looking forward to playing their equipment. It's not only their driver that I've been hitting great over the last couple of weeks, but I have also moved into the ball and the irons, as well. Just looking forward to the relationship with them there and hopefully good things here this week.

Q.: How do you feel standing on the first tee here?

RICKY BARNES: It's good but you're a little high up. Just wondering how far that ball is going to go once you hit it.

Q.: How far down did you get it?

RICKY BARNES: I don't know. How long is that hole? Probably about 400 yards.

Q.: What did you hit?

RICKY BARNES: 2-iron.

Q.: What do you think of the course overall?

RICKY BARNES: It's a great course. Very fair, challenging. There's birdies to be made, maybe a few eagles in there.

Looking forward to a good week. It's a great golf course. I think it fits my game pretty well.

Click here to read the complete interview with Ricky Barnes.