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Courses
Augusta National Golf Club chairman Hootie Johnson announces the course's fifth hole has been lengthened and the bunkers moved 80 yards closer to the green.
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Associations
The first ING Members Association Media Forum, open to anyone in the golf industry or golf media, will be conducted Oct. 26-29 at Palm Coast Resort along the Atlantic Coast in Florida.
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Equipment
At the PGA Championship, eight of the 16 players who finished in the top 10 and ties wore CHAMP manufactured spikes and 40 percent of all golfers at the tournament wore the CHAMP manufactured spikes.
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Two weeks after having her shafts aligned by Strategic Shaft Technologies, Meg Mallon won the Women's Canadian Open for her first LPGA victory in two years. The SST PURE method of shaft alignment eliminates the effects of shaft irregularities.
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Graphite Design International releases its "Purple Ice" golf-club shafts for drivers and woods, made of an industry-low amount of resin and high-modulus fiber, to the golf trade and consumers.
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Players
The Women's Committee of the United States Golf Association names Becky Lucidi of Poway, Calif., Emily Bastel of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and Mollie Fankhauser of Dublin, Ohio, to the 2002 USA Women's World Amateur Team.
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Media
Three-time champion Tiger Woods, a field of players that include 24 members of the U.S. and European Ryder Cup teams and winners of all four major championships this year will play at the World Golf Championship-NEC Invitational. USA Network will broadcast the event Thursday and Friday, Aug. 22-23 (2-6 PM ET/2-6 PM PT).
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Business
The Toronto Stock Exchange accepts ClubLink Corporation's Notice of Intention to commence a Normal Course Issuer Bid. The company plans to purchase for cancellation up to $7.5 million Canadian of its debentures.
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Callaway Golf's Board of Directors approves a dividend for the second quarter of 2002 of $.07 per share, payable Sept. 24 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 3.
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Publications
"Powerful Golf," a new audio book by Michael J. Russ on compact disk, shows how typical but avid golfers can lower their scores just by changing the way they think.
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Clock Tower Press, a new publishing company established Aug. 9 by the former Sleeping Bear Press shareholders, will be headed by former Sleeping Bear Executive Editor Skip DeWall and will manage the acquired inventory of golf, sports, regional and Michigan books.
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Briefly
Following Rich Beem's win at the PGA Championship, golf fans have become reacquainted with Alan Shipnuck's 2001 book "Bud, Sweat and Tees" which features Beem. The book can be ordered from the Booklegger by calling 800-262-1556 x 202. ...

Apparel maker Ashworth will review its third-quarter results in a live Internet broadcast Aug. 28 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The review can be accessed at www.ashworthinc.com. ...

Equipment manufacturer GolfGear International reports second-quarter revenues of $386,066, with a net loss of $485,578, compared with revenues of $740,480 and a net loss of $222,086 for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001. ...

In its September issue, Black Enterprise magazine names Tiger Woods as the biggest and most-influential celebrity endorser with an estimated $54 million a year in endorsement earnings. ...

Terris Golf, developer of new golf gloves that protect the skeletal and soft-tissue structure of golfers' hands, wrists and arms and conform with United States Golf Association rules, retains Buffalo Communications as its public-relations agency.

Commentary
Golf decline not cause for alarm

A 1A article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Aug. 12, just days before the start of the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club, described how golf participation in Minnesota is on the decline, and that state golf insiders are concerned.

According to the article, more than 100 new courses have been built since 1990 and the number of rounds played in the state is dropping, due to consecutive springs of inclement weather and the struggling economy. The Minnesota Golf Association boasts 93,000 members, and they reportedly played 14 percent fewer rounds in 2001 than they did in 1999. Nationally, rounds played are down 3.2 percent in the first five months of this year than last year.

Cause for serious alarm? Maybe some wringing of the hands, but back-to-back weekends hosting the Senior PGA Tour's 3M Championship, in which a record 52,000 showed up for Sunday's final round, and the PGA Championship did little to suggest golf is dead in Minnesota. Plus, the Solheim Cup is headed to Edina, Minn., next month.

So while numbers may show a declining trend in participation, fans who turned out for both events did not just do so to have a good time. They support golf with a passion and, in turn, the past few weeks should spawn new interest in the game.

And the support was not lost on the players.

"I think that this is a community that has really supported the tournament, and we, as the Tour and as major championships, need to look at trying to bring golf to markets that we haven't reached," Phil Mickelson said.

"Such as here in Minneapolis, maybe in Seattle, like we are doing [this week], and maybe Portland, which we haven't done yet. There seems to be so much support. I think that golf could really benefit if we were to move some tournaments around to some markets, especially if they are as supportive as this community is now."

The Minnesota community not only wanted to see good golf, they also knew what golf meant - and that is a sign that golf is in good hands.

"Golfers are about tradition, about etiquette, about poise... just look at how they handle themselves," said Katheryne Peterson, a Minnesota native who turned out for last week's PGA Championship. "Golfers are like no other kind of professional athlete."

If there are studies to be done on participation, the usual analysis is fine. But here is one to consider: Next year, a year after the PGA and the Solheim Cup are long gone, go back to Minnesota and see how many new players have taken up the game.

Do not bemoan the number of new courses having been built or the number of rounds been played. If there is no new growth in the game as a result of the greatest golfers having displayed their immense talents in that region, then there may be cause for alarm.

But do not jump to conclusions just yet.

 

Reader's Forum Now that the final putt has fallen for the year's last major, The Wire wants to hear what television broadcast you liked best of the four majors and why. Did you prefer CBS at the Masters with Ken Venturi for the final time, NBC at the U.S. Open with Johnny Miller's insights, ABC at the British Open featuring Mike Tirico and Curtis Strange in the booth or CBS' recent broadcast of the PGA? If you could make one suggestion to improve television coverage of golf's majors in 2003, what would it be? Let us know your opinions by sending your responses to info@gpagolf.com with the subject line RE: TV coverage. Also include your first initial and last name, along with your email address.