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| A Look Back: Dec. 5 1928: The Hawaiian Open debuts with Bill Mehlhorn winning in a playoff with Fred Morrison. 1949: Lanny Wadkins, winner of the 1977 PGA Championship and the 1995 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, is born in Richmond, Va. 1951: Tom Purtzer, winner of five PGA Tour events, is born in Des Moines, Iowa. 1963: Bob Friend, PGA Tour member and son of former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bob Friend, is born in Pittsburgh, Pa. 1982: Don January wins the PGA Seniors' Championship by a stroke over Julius Boros at PGA National Golf Club's Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. |
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Associations
Through
its "For The Good of the Game" program, the United States Golf Association
teams up with Nike Golf to build a golf training facility for the physically
disabled at the William S. Baer School in Baltimore. The facility was constructed
using synthetic grass known as TourTurf by FieldTurf which will make the training
center accessible to the Baer School's physically challenged students.
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Business
The
National Golf Course Owners Association is instrumental in clarifying an
IRS revenue ruling related to the depreciation of golf course greens. Under the
ruling, the costs of "modern greens" that will be retired, abandoned or replaced
at the same time as the drainage system are depreciable under current law and
regulations as 15-year land improvements.
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Golf
sportswear company Ashworth invites the public to listen to a broadcast
review of the Company's fourth quarter and Fiscal 2001 results. The call will
be broadcast live over the Internet on Dec. 12 at 10:00 a.m. ET.
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The
board of directors of The Toro Company declares a regular quarterly cash
dividend of 12 cents per share payable Jan. 12 to stockholders of record Dec.
18. Toro manufactures products for golf course turf maintenance.
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Tournaments
The
PGA of America selects Twin Warriors Golf Club in New Mexico to host The 36th
PGA Club Professional Championship, the showcase event for PGA Professionals,
June 19-22, 2003. The CPC will also return in 2007 to Sunriver (Ore.) Resort's
Crosswater Club, which hosted The 2001 CPC last June.
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Courses
The
600-year-old Old Course at St. Andrews will recreate history and have some
fun on April 1 when it will open for play backwards. For many years the course
was played both in its current counter-clockwise arrangement and the reverse on
alternate weeks, and as recently as the 1970s, it was still played in a clockwise
direction for one month every winter.
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Technology
The
PGA Golf Club in Florida integrates GolfSwitch's PhonePro software into
its current phone system to allow callers to book tee times, get course directions
and hear rates any time. PhonePro uses speech recognition technology instead of
requiring callers to push phone buttons.
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Equipment
Golf
equipment maker PING wins the 2001 Manufacturer of the Year award for Arizona
companies with 500 or more employees. Sponsored by the Arizona Association of
Industries, the award is the second for PING.
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Commentary
Try on Tryon for Size
Well, Ty Tryon really showed us, huh?
Last spring we viewed his entry at the Honda Classic at age 16 as a cute novelty. "Great for him," we said after he made the cut and finished top-40. Even greater when he opened with a 65 at the B.C. Open and settled for a second straight top-40 finish.
The kid may just have a future as a pro, hope he continues to improve, we all thought.
Then, in an act of supreme hubris last August, he announced he was going to turn pro and attempt to make the PGA Tour through the Qualifying School Tournament.
Pressure? Nah, he replied, just another tournament.
All of a sudden the novelty wore off and the cute little 17-year-old quickly transformed into this cocky up-and-comer in many eyes. Those PGA Tour finishes obviously went to his head.
And then we snickered when he opened with an 80 in the opening round of the U.S. Amateur stroke play and failed to advance to match play. Ty, better rethink that turning pro idea, kid.
Tryon, of Orlando, Fla., would not be deterred, though, and off he went to Qualifying School. Surely if the first two stages didn't trip him up, the arduous six-round pressure-cooker final would. But Tryon managed to keep his wits, advanced to the final and after Sunday's fifth round was in 50th place -- 15 places shy of a top-35 finish needed to secure his PGA Tour card for 2002.
A low round he said he needed, but everyone knows that going low when your immediate pro future depends on it is the most difficult feat of all to accomplish -- especially for a teen-aged kid. But obviously not for Tryon, who posted a 6-under 66 -- the second lowest round of the day -- and climbed well into the top 35.
So now Tryon holds a PGA Tour card, just like John Cook, who coached him occasionally in high school matches and advised caution in rushing Tryon's career; just like fellow Orlandoan Scott Hoch, who thought the idea of Tryon turning pro so young was a bit absurd; and just like Tiger Woods -- OK, maybe he's not in Tiger's class just yet.
But give him a full year on tour, without the distractions of school, and let us see what happens. He may very well follow in the youthful footsteps of Woods and Sergio Garcia or maybe he will flame out and struggle like Justin Rose, the European Tour player who captured our fancy with his brilliant play at the 1998 Open Championship.
This much we know for certain, though. If you bet against Tryon to make it this far... you lost.
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