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Events
PGA Golf Exhibitions and PGA Magazine announce a near sell-out of participants in the inaugural 2003 Demo Day at the 2003 PGA Merchandise Show, January 22. Some 37 equipment and golf product manufacturers have utilized all but a few spots at the 42-acre driving range and practice facility of the Orange County National Golf Center and Lodge in Orlando, Fla.
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Women in The Golf Industry gathered for the organization's first annual meeting at Pinehurst, Nov. 10-12. The event was sponsored by Reed Expo and Pinehurst.
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The Spartanburg Junior Golf Facility, First Tee of Spartanburg, opens its doors today with the help of five-time British Open Champion Tom Watson and South Carolina's own Hootie and the Blowfish.
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Sponsorship
Popular instructor Jim McLean signs a five-year agreement to become an official spokesperson for Mirage Putting Greens, the manufacturer of the Tour-Putt Non-Sand filled synthetic turf putting surface specifically made for backyards.
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Golf headwear and apparel maker Ahead renews its sponsorship of The Golf Channel's Sunday Night premier golf weekly wrap-up show, Golf Central, which broadcasts at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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Technology
Golf Solutions, Inc., a golf management company in the Houston area, hires Pause Golf Solutions' Kim J. Brown to install the Fore! Reservations Golf Course Management and Marketing Software system at all of the company's courses.
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Matrix Golf, Inc. announces the Matrix SS, a new patent pending, competitive scoring system that makes golf more fun for groups around the nation and affords charitable organizations a new opportunity to raise money.
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Long time Crescent Systems customer Lake Las Vegas Resort opens its second public facility at The Falls Golf Club. The Falls is the third operation owned by Lake Las Vegas Resort that is serviced by Crescent Systems club management software.
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People
A special tribute to cameraman Brian Blodgett who lost his life during the taping of a Shell's Wonderful World of Golf match between Fred Couples and Mark Calcavecchia from The Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel, Calif., will air as part of the telecast during the final show of the season Thursday.
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Peter McEvoy, one of the most successful captains of any Great Britain and Ireland team, is named as Chairman of the R&A Selection Committee to succeed Peter Benka.
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Briefly
To introduce its improved Watt/Miser II electric power management system, which features a new internal computer and user-friendly display, Club Car will analyze a course's charging program and provide an estimate of projected savings using Watt/Miser. Watt/Miser II allows courses to automate their charging schedule and recharge their golf car fleets during off-peak hours, when energy costs are lower, and save 10 to 60 percent. ...

The World Business Golf Challenge, an event designed for companies/organizations/entities to host days as a means of entertaining key clients, potential clients, suppliers and staff, allows teams compete in a four-person Modified Scramble. The top 25 teams from Local Area competitions will qualify for one of eight Regional Finals. ...

PremiumWear, Inc.'s Golf Division, Page & Tuttle, introduces its No-Curl Collar Pique Polo to the golf apparel industry. Guaranteed not to curl, a thin, undetectable stay is inserted into the end of the shirt's collar to keep it from curling up and losing its shape. ...

Egoware, Inc.'s MEMBER CONNECT creates a Private Internet Communication Channel that allows clubs to deliver targeted messages and encrypted information securely to the desktops of its members. A country club's logo is branded as an icon onto its members' desktops and discreetly alerts them when they have an important message from the club. ...

McArthur Towel and Sports gives its USA Theme Barrel Head Cover, used by PGA Tour professionals at the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, a new look in 2003. ...

Community Web site provider clubessential, Inc. announces a change in ownership of the company's operating assets to an investment group led by Dr. William D. Ivers, Agora Capital Partners of New York and several other new investors. KSL Recreation Corporation also remains an owner of the company. ...

Callaway Golf Company delays the filing of its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30 but confirms that, excluding the effects of its warranty reserve adjustment, its results for the third quarter of 2002 would be the same as announced in its Oct. 17 earnings release.

Reader's Forum Recent legislation proposed by the NCAA could lead to the elimination of the fall collegiate golf season and would limit the playing and practice time of NCAA student-athletes in every sport, including out-of-season weight training and conditioning, summer weight training and conditioning and foreign tours. The reasoning for this is that athletes need to limit their time on the field of play in order to study and enjoy a collegiate social life. But traditionally, collegiate golfers maintain among the highest grade-point averages and graduation rates on campus. Should golf be treated differently from other collegiate sports? Let us know your opinions by sending your responses to info@gpagolf.com with the subject line RE: College. Also include your first initial and last name, along with your city and state or country.

Commentary
College Golf fine as is

Does college golf really need "fixing?" The NCAA apparently thinks so.

At the end of September, the Golf Coaches Association of America was informed by the NCAA that it was looking at options for changing time spent playing and practicing by college athletes. The NCAA's possible changes don't single out golf; they apply to all sports. It is golf, however, that would suffer greatly.

According to the NCAA, its goal is to "reduce time demands on student athletes and permit those individuals to pursue athletic and academic achievement as well as participate in the social and cultural activities of their respective institutions."

As usual, the proposal is directed more toward football and basketball, the two "glamour" college sports. (And, as usual, the changes would cut costs, although the NCAA does not mention that, speaking instead of the betterment of the student-athlete. That begs the question of whether the NCAA would recommend something for the betterment of student athletes if it actually increased costs.) The changes, however, have the potential to alter drastically the college golf season, which is split into non-championship (fall) and championship (spring) sections.

Were the NCAA to mandate a 126-day season as opposed to the current 144 days, fall golf could be a thing of the past.

John Inman, a former PGA Tour winner and the 1984 NCAA champion at the University of North Carolina, now is the head men's golf coach at his alma mater, which is ranked sixth in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. Inman said the NCAA proposal came as unwelcome bolt from the blue.

"It's something I think that has snuck up on a lot of people," Inman said. "It's been front and center in our daily vocabulary here. We don't really even think it pertains to us. Our (college golf's) GPAs are among the best. We have very high graduation rates. We don't have the numbers of players other sports have, but they do very well."

This proposal originated with the NCAA's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which is comprised of a student representative from each major conference, plus six at-large members. Oddly enough, though golf could be the most affected sport (and tennis would take a hit, too), not a single student-athlete on the committee is on a golf team, men's or women's. The committee did manage to have two rowers on its roster, though. The player representative from the Atlantic Coast Conference, which in addition to North Carolina has three other teams in the top 10 of the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, is Brandi Stuart, a softball player from Florida State.

The NCAA contacted the Golf Coaches Association of America and asked that group to inform and poll its membership about the proposal. (The NCAA did not contact the women's coaches' organization, the National Golf Coaches Association. Martha Burk, where are you?)

The key section in the NCAA's communication was this:

"It is important to note that the Division I Board of Directors has already determined that playing and practice seasons should be curtailed to address time demands on student-athletes. Therefore, it is not necessary for you to determine whether the playing and practice seasons will be reduced, but how you think they should be reduced."

So, you guys talk about this until you're blue in the face, but it's a done deal.

The GCAA went a step farther and polled not only coaches, but student athletes. Not surprisingly, 83 percent of the men's coaches and 77 percent of the women's coaches disagreed or strongly disagreed with reducing seasons. The players themselves were even more adamant: 90 percent of the men and 80 percent of the women were against the reduction. When it came to eliminating the fall season, 99 percent of the men and 97 percent of the women were against it.

"The direction and reason for this possible legislation is to reduce playing and practice time to lessen the time demands on the student-athlete," said Gregg Grost, Executive Director of the GCAA and former head coach at Oklahoma. "Unfortunately some of the athletes don't need protecting."

It's not as though college golfers can play 20 tournaments a year. Restrictions from both the NCAA and individual schools already are in place. The NCAA limits competition days to 24 during the school year for each golfer. North Carolina also limits the number of class days that a golfer can miss to seven per semester. Most other schools also place limits on class days that can be missed. The Tar Heels played three tournaments this fall, one of which was at St. Andrews, Scotland, in September. Inman said the overseas trip was great for his players, but it meant that each one who went missed four days of class right off the bat.

"We still play a nice full schedule," Inman said of the seven-day restriction. "It can be done."

Inman said that from his time as a collegian, when he and Davis Love III were teammates on a strong UNC team, competition days have been cut from 30 to the current 24, meaning many tournaments are two-day events instead of three days.

Scheduled activities for players also are limited to 20 hours per week by the NCAA "We rarely go over 15 or 16 hours," Inman said.

So what's the point of this proposal? It would seem to be aimed particularly at college football players who use summer school to beef up in the weight room under the direction of strength coordinators. If the NCAA wants to target football, then do it. But the organization should come with some sport-specific regulations instead of lumping such different entities as football, softball, golf, tennis and volleyball in the same group.

It remains unclear how many days the NCAA will trim from the schedule or when or even if those changes will take effect.

Also unclear is whether the fall season would have to be scrapped by all schools, or whether schools in areas that have better weather in the fall (such as the Northeast) would have the option of doing away with the spring season. In some areas of the country, the vicissitudes of springtime weather would prevent golf from starting until well into March. That would mean a five-week or shorter season for those schools or extensive travel to warmer areas, which certainly would not reduce costs.

The proposed changes also could have the unintended effect of making college less of an option for players who are set on a professional career in the sport. If the number of tournaments is reduced too much, why not just skip college altogether? Could we see even more Ty Tryons? Or maybe the rise of institutions run by golf instructors where youngsters go to study golf all day.

"Something that would make them bypass their college experience would be a travesty," Inman said. "It's uncalled for.

"If you're going to the next level, these guys have to play, not just practice. They want to compete. I think you would see amateur tournaments pop up that would fill that void.

"We want our players to have that experience the NCAA is professing. College golf definitely is not broken."

Feedback on this commentary will be included in this week's Reader's Forum feature. Send your comments to info@gpagolf.com.