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| A Look Back: Dec. 5 1928: Bill Mehlhorn wins the Hawaiian Open in a playoff with Fred Morrison. 1949: PGA Championship winner and former Ryder Cup captain Lanny Wadkins is born in Richmond, Va. 1951: PGA Tour player Tom Purtzer is born in Des Moines, Iowa. 1971: PGA Tour member Gabriel Hjertstedt is born in Sweden. 1982: Don January wins the PGA Seniors' Championship. |
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Tournaments
Constellation Energy Group announces title sponsorship of a new Champions
Tour event, the Constellation Energy Classic, set to
take place Sept. 2003. The new event will be managed by Peter Jacobsen
Productions, Inc.
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more...
Technology
Hilton Head-area
course Old South Golf Club joins its sister club, Old Carolina, in using
the Cybergolf Broadcast System. The system includes email
marketing, data collection and a online survey creator among its many
features.
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more...
Laurel Links Country
Club, a newly developed private club on eastern Long Island, selects Crescent
Systems for its solution-based software package and its reputation
for customer service.
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more...
Media
Sunshine Network premieres the December edition of The Summertime
Golf Show today from the World Golf Village in St. Augustine,
Fla. This edition of the 30-minute golf magazine show covers courses,
accommodations and things to see at the popular golf destination.
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more...
Briefly
Golf Pride introduces its new line of grips for 2003
including new Whisper grips for putters and the Decade Lite Cord grip.
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Two new episodes of Peter Jacobsen Plugged In will air on The Golf Channel next week. The first, set to air Dec. 18 at 8 p.m., will look back on the 2002 golf season while the second, scheduled to air Dec. 23 at 7:30 p.m., will feature gift ideas for last-minute shoppers. ...
Orlimar president and CEO Bill Kirkendall leaves the company after three years at the helm. ...
Clothing designer and manufacturer Cutter & Buck reports its sales decreased 12 percent in the second quarter from the same period last year. The company plans to close its 11 stores and two outlets by spring to save money.
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Reader's Forum Australian golf star Greg Norman criticized a decision last week to have two players share the Australian PGA title, saying tournament rules that state sudden death should continue until a winner is decided should be adhered to no matter what. Last week, Norman criticized organizers of the Australian Open for canceling the first round because of unplayable greens, saying Australian golf was humiliated. Should Norman continue to speak out on issues in golf, especially in his native Australia? Do you enjoy hearing what he has to say? What role should Norman take in the golf world as he gets older and continues to diversify into other business interests? Let us know your opinions by sending your responses to info@gpagolf.com with the subject line RE: Norman. Also include your first initial and last name, along with your city and state or country. |
In
Their Own Words
Ben
Wright
Popular golf broadcaster Ben Wright returns to U.S. television as host of the World Club Championship held at The Club at Nine Bridges on Jeju Island, South Korea. The show will air on The Golf Channel on Dec. 11.
BEN WRIGHT: I'm very much behind this idea because I think it's something that's going to catch on particularly because the first event was so successful and the 18 teams that were involved. I can see it happening very soon that there will be a tremendous scramble to get into the Top 100 so that they can get to Jeju Island. The course has a very Scottish look about it. I was looking at the rough cut (of the show) and I absolutely sort of let out a yelp thinking I was back at the Kings Course at Gleneagles in Scotland. It is an idea who's time has come. The significance of this event is represented with the participation of Pine Valley and Muirfield. And now, we have the captain of Muirfield, Bobby White, who presented the Claret Jug to Ernie Els in July and Peter Burt, the Governor of the Royal Bank of Scotland participating. It has become more and more difficult to get into the professional game and I think there will be more and more people requiring their amateur status be returned to them. I think the amateur game has a huge future. I'm obviously very thrilled to be with the team that has been assembled. It is a joy for me to work with Terry Jastrow.
Q: Obviously now the big issue in golf is women and Augusta National and I was wondering if you could give us your take on that?
BEN WRIGHT: Since I have not broadcast at Augusta National since 1995 it really isn't something that has anything to do with me. If you want my take on it, I was very fortunate when I was younger to be something of a favorite of Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts and we talked many times about how that event, how the Masters had been set up. It was a was a very private invitation that made from the people concerned, Mr. Jones and Mr. Roberts. If they didn't like the way someone behaved on the grounds they would chase them off. And they did on numerous occasions. Since it was conceived as a private club, private tournament it is in their hands. Obviously no one likes anyone being excluded for anything, but I think it really is none of my business and it is very much that of Augusta National's.
Q: How does it feel to back on U.S. television and do you have anything else lined up?
BEN WRIGHT: I am absolutely thrilled to be involved with this. Obviously I have been away for seven long years and they have been seven miserable years in terms of my yearning to be involved in something I don't regard as being a job or work but a way of life. I'm over the moon about this. I do have a passion for the game despite my dying ability to play.
Q: Do you think there is too much political correctness in sports?
BEN WRIGHT: I think there is too much political correctness in life. It obviously isn't just sports by any means, political correctness it is a serious disease of our time.
Q: Did you think you wouldn't ever come back to golf? I'm sure at some point in your mind you had to wonder if you would ever come back to golf. With the thought you might never have the chance to come back were you comfortable going out the way it happened and were you able to live with it?
BEN WRIGHT: I've managed to live, but obviously it hasn't been easy . There were other circumstances in my life that caused me a lot of grief too. The idea of being remembered as someone who lost his job for reputed remarks that were totally inappropriate. I found it very difficult to live with because I thought I had a lot more to offer to the game. And I am very grateful to Terry Jastrow and his team for having me on board.