The Wire -- Golf's only weekday transaction newsletter

The Wire for Friday, November 30, 2001

A Look Back: Nov. 30
1955: Brad Fabel, a PGA Tour member, is born in Louisville, Ky.
1969: Arnold Palmer wins the inaugural Heritage Classic at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, S.C., beating Richard Crawford and Bert Yancey by three strokes.
1986: Greg Norman wins the Western Australian Open for his ninth victory of the year -- four in Australia, three in Europe, and two in the United States.

About This E-Mail
To change format options (HTML or text), change your e-mail address or unsubscribe, go to golftransactions.com. Suggestions and feedback are welcome at info@gpagolf.com.
How to Advertise
For information on advertising in The Wire e-mail newsletter or other advertising opportunities with the Golf Press Association, contact us at info@gpagolf.com.

Courses
Nine-hole Chili Greens Golf Course appoints Evergreen Alliance Golf Limited to manage its facility, located in Omaha, Neb. The course, which includes indoor and outdoor practice areas, becomes the 41st operated by EAGL.
For more...

People
The Aloha PGA Section names Puakea Golf Course Head Golf Professional Kellie Pleas as its 2001 Junior Golf Leader. This is the second time Pleas, who is the only woman head golf pro in Hawaii, has been awarded the honor.
For more...

Canadian 18-year-old Ryan Vallely finishes his final season as a junior golfer with a No. 1 ranking on the Bank of Montreal Future Links Order of Merit for juniors. Vallely won two events and placed second, third and fourth in other tournaments to earn 3,800 points in the rankings -- more than 350 points ahead of runner-up James Lepp.
For more...

The 19th Hole
We welcome your opinions and comments. E-mail them to info@gpagolf.com with the subject line Re: The 19th Hole. Include your first initial and last name, along with your e-mail address. The Golf Press Association reserves the right to edit all letters.
In response to Nov. 29 Five Questions with Tim Finchem regarding changes to the Senior PGA Tour: Tim Finchem can make all the changes he wants to the Senior Tour and as long as the players are just a bunch of grumpy old men it will not get any better. You have players on that tour that have had club jobs all their life or have run golf driving ranges and they still treat the volunteers and the spectators as if they are not worthy of being there to watch.
Fuzzy will be good, but he is only one man and Arnie is getting old so he can only do so much. John Jacobs is one of the ones Tim Finchem should talk to about how to get closer to the crowd. John is good for the Senior Tour.
I worked one of the Senior Tour tournaments for six years and it is sad to see these guys getting catered to like they are gods and then they ignore anyone that can't do them any good. The impression they give on TV is certainly different than the way they are to the general public.
B. Donahue
WJDonahue@aol.com

Casual Friday
Time for a Getaway

The economy isn't so hot. Neither is the weather, at least for most of us in the United States. What could be better than a short pick-me-up golf vacation in a sunny locale?

Fortunately, there are good deals to be found for December and January, to such warm spots as California, Florida and Arizona. Because other folks aren't traveling as much as in past years, you, a die-hard golfer, can leave the rain or snow behind, pack up your sticks and go play a comfortable round or two.

Online travel service Expedia.com is promoting a three-night vacation to Phoenix from $351, including accommodation at the Wyndham Buttes Resort and roundtrip airfare. More than 190 golf courses are located in the Phoenix area -- make your own tee times at any one of them.

With hotel and golf packages starting at $400 for three nights and two rounds, San Diego Golf Holidays can help brighten up your winter for not much money. Oh, and an unlimited mileage, mid-size car rental for four days is included in the package price.

If you've never been to the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla., this is a great winter to see everything the complex has to offer. World Golf Village packages start at $350 for two nights and two rounds of golf. While you're there, visit the World Golf Hall of Fame, shop for golf equipment and apparel or see an IMAX movie.

January temperatures at Hilton Head, S.C., hover around 60 degrees -- not sleeveless-shirt weather, to be sure, but more pleasant than most places in winter. Hilton Head Golf Vacations is advertising three nights' lodging and three rounds of golf, one at each Sea Pines course: Harbour Town Golf Links, Ocean Course, and Sea Marsh. Prices start at $459 per person and are good through the end of February.

Like Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach is always a good bet. Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday lists too many specials to count on its Web site. Want unlimited golf? No problem. Free nights? Easy to find. Top instruction? That's available too.

Sure, Bandon Dunes is in Oregon. Not generally considered the best place to play golf in winter. But with relatively mild temperatures year-round, you're just as likely to run into wind and rain in June as in December -- plus it's much cheaper to play now. Packages start at $235 per person in December -- add another $30 if you plan to play in January or February -- and include two nights lodging, one round on Bandon Dunes and one round on Pacific Dunes.

Troon Golf, a course management company, has an online newsletter filled with vacation deals at the company's client courses. One example is the Nicklaus Golf Getaway at the Westin La Paloma Resort in Tucson, Ariz. Package prices start at $319 for two golfers. Get more information by calling 1-800-WESTIN-1.

Finally, good deals can often be found in PGATour.com's travel pages or at TravelGolf.com's extensive offerings.

TAP-INS

A collection of Al Barkow's golf writing since 1969 has been released in "That's Golf" by Burford Books. ...
Greg McLaughlin has been named executive director of the Tiger Woods Foundation, taking over Jan. 1. ...
The Jimmy D'Angelo Scholarship is available at Johnson & Wales University in North Miami, Fla. The scholarship, which honors D'Angelo and his work with the media, is for students majoring in Sports, Entertainment and Event Management. To nominate a student, contact scholarship coordinator David Adamonis at 305-892-5361 or dadamonis@jwu.edu.