A Look Back: Aug. 17 1969: Raymond Floyd's 35-foot birdie putt at the 71st hole gives him a one-stroke win over South African Gary Player at the PGA Championship at NCR Country Club in Dayton, Ohio. 1985: Don Bies defeats Hubert Green in a playoff to win the Greater Hartford Open. 1997: Davis Love III shoots a stirring 11-under 269 at Winged Foot Golf Club's West Course to win his first major, the PGA Championship. Love wins by five strokes over Justin Leonard. 1997: Karrie Webb rolls to an eight-stroke win at the Weetabix Women's British Open. Webb shoots a 19-under-par 269 to win over Rosie Jones. 1998: Nearly six months after he started, Phil Mickelson shoots a final-round 67 for a one-stroke win over Tom Pernice Jr. at the rain-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. The tournament was not able to be concluded in February.

Equipment
Assistant club professional Rick Schuller grabbed a share of the lead during Thursday's PGA Championship using a Louisville Golf Authentic American Dogwood Mallet. Schuller was a brief co-leader at 4-under after a string of birdies. He finished at 2-under 70.
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Tiger Woods has switched from CHAMP's Wafer-Lite Q-LOK 6mm metal spike to a newly customed-designed 8mm version.
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Technology
GolfSwitch, a golf tee time network, announces that it has partnered with Visual One Systems, a leading provider of management systems for the hospitality industry.
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Also, GolfSwitch announces that seven courses managed by Western Golf Properties have joined the GolfSwitch Network, including Pelican Hill Golf Club.
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Gaylord Sports Management announces the launch of its new company Web site www.gaylordsports.com. Gaylord lists as its clients Phil Mickelson, Mark Calcavecchia, David Gossett, Paul Casey and Kelli Kuehne.
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F2 Broadcast Network enters into a syndication arrangement with Swing Cam, Inc., which offers the first customer-controlled digital video system that records, replays, analyzes a golfers swing and delivers it directly to the Internet.
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Courses
Tempus Resorts International announces the official opening of the Gary Koch-designed Mystic Dunes Golf Club, part of The Palms Resort and Country Club. Meadowbrook Golf Group will manage the semi-private course, located in Central Florida, two miles south of the Walt Disney World Resort complex.
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Events
National Institute of Golf Management is accepting registration for its 2002 golf course management seminar, Jan. 13-17 at the Oglebay Resort and Conference Center in Wheeling, W.Va.
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Business
Sprint will operate the first guest message center for people attending the Reno-Tahoe Open Aug. 20-26 at the Montreux Golf and Country Club. Sprint PCS will offer free wireless calls at a special message center designed to give spectators a way to receive messages and place calls throughout the day.
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Apparel
Hartmarx Corporation announces that Raymond F. Farley, a member of the Hartmarx Board of Directors, and retired President and Chief Executive Officer of SC Johnson Wax, will serve as Chairman of a newly-formed Ad Hoc Committee of the Hartmarx Board. The committee will evaluate any outside offers or transactions proposed to the company.
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Casual Friday
Amateur in name only

Atlanta will hardly have had time to recover from its PGA Championship hangover when the U.S. Amateur quietly opens on Monday. And, for at least one news cycle, the Amateur will be relegated to second billing, as U.S. Ryder Cup captain Curtis Strange is set to announce his wild card picks on Monday.

So, by the time the major and Ryder Cup buzz wears off, the U.S. Amateur will be in full swing. Two of the marquee names in amateur golf the past few years will be missing -- Luke Donald and Bryce Molder having decided to turn pro -- but the Amateur should be as compelling an event as ever. Many of the names in the field you have never heard of unless they come from your local clubs and amateur regions. Others are stopping on their way to the PGA Tour or other form of pro career.

When the match play rounds begin on Wednesday at East Lake Golf Club, there are few events -- majors included -- that match the Amateur in terms of pure competition.

So whether it's paying less than $20 for a daily pass or watching the 13 hours worth of coverage on ESPN and NBC (see Tuesday, Aug. 14, Tee Box for times), it's worth the time to enjoy one of the most underrated events in golf.

TAP-INS

Algonquin Press has over 100 galleys of Darren Kilfara's 'A Golfer's Education' in its inventory and are making them available. Just send an e-mail to michael@algonquin.com to request a copy....
The September issue of Golf Magazine presents the top 100 courses in the world as selected by a 102-person committee, which is a veritable Who's Who in golf -- including the likes of Geoffrey Cornish, Arthur Hills, Robert Trent Jones Jr., players Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Annika Sorenstam, Herb Kohler Jr., and Michael Bonallack. Oddly morning show anchors Bryant Gumbel and Matt Lauer are also on the committee, which makes it a bit difficult to lend credence to such a list....
Speaking of courses, if you are hard core about golf course architecture check out www.golfclubatlas.com, which is a small Web site devoted to architecture purists. The best part of the site is its in-depth and insightful feature interviews and its discussion groups.