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| A Look Back: Dec. 6 1959: Doug Sanders wins the Coral Gables Open. 1966: Per-Ulrik Johansson, member of two winning European Ryder Cup teams (1995, '97), is born in Uppsala, Sweden. 1970: Bill Garrett wins the Coral Springs Open by a shot over Bob Murphy. 1971: Jack Nicklaus wins the Walt Disney World Open by three strokes over Deane Beman. 1981: Miller Barber wins the PGA Seniors' Championship by two shots over Arnold Palmer at Turnberry Isle Country Club in North Miami, Fla. |
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Tours
The European
Tour's Tournament Committee decides to include the cancelled World Golf Championships-American
Express Championship in September as a counting event towards a member's minimum
commitment of 11 tournaments on the Volvo Order of Merit. This means Sergio Garcia
remains in the Order of Merit and Alastair Forsyth drops to No. 116, one off the
last qualifying place.
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Architecture
Jacksonville,
Fla., company Golf Management, Inc. secures design work on three new courses
and one major renovation. In addition, the service company has been active in
managing golf course construction and operation consulting and has recently added
operations management to its list of services offered.
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Damian
Pascuzzo, president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects,
reports that remodeling work is the "other side" of the design profession. According
to Pascuzzo, courses built more than 25 years ago have to deal with remaining
competitive and challenging as well as heavy play over time, and will be remodeled
in large numbers in 2002.
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Courses
Troon
Golf, a luxury golf management, development, and marketing company, is contracted
to oversee the construction of three Jack Nicklaus Signature golf courses and
manage all golf club operations at Cap Cana resort in the Dominican Republic.
The first Cap Cana course is set to open in 2003.
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Associations
The
National Golf Course Owners Association adds the Mississippi Gulf Coast
Golf Association as its newest chapter. The Coast Association, which represents
15 courses and 30 associate member hotels, will be led by new president Todd Darouse
of Windance Country Club and secretary/treasurer Wade Hamilton of the President
Broadwater Golf Club.
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Sponsorships
Luke
Donald, who signed a multi-year endorsement agreement with Spalding
in September 2001, earned his PGA Tour card for next year. Donald will be playing
next year on tour with the Strata golf ball and Ben Hogan irons, along with carrying
a Ben Hogan bag and wearing a Ben Hogan visor.
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Representatives
of Target Stores announce their pleasure with sponsored golfer Ty Tryon,
a 17-year-old golfer who recently earned his PGA Tour card at Qualifying School.
Tryon signed a deal with Target in October to wear the Target Bullseye Design
and Mossimo-branded clothing.
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Travel
Chateau
Elan Hotels & Resorts, a branded group of five luxury domestic and international
properties in Georgia, Florida, California and Scotland, is offering more than
30 Holiday Gift Certificate choices ranging from around $50 to more than $1,600.
Choices include "Golfers Dream," a five-day, four-night stay at the new St. Andrews
Bay Golf Resort & Spa in Scotland.
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Business
Golf
maintenance equipment maker Deere & Company is to pay a quarterly dividend
of 22 cents per share. The company board of directors declares the dividend payable
Feb. 1 to stockholders of record on Dec. 31.
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Five Questions
Bobby Grace
Club
Designer
Bobby Grace started designing putters in 1991, with his well-known hand-milled Fat Lady mallet, and in the last decade has become one of the premier putter designers in the game.
Q: Why did you get started designing putters?
A: Originally, I had become quite involved with collectables and I became a broker about age 20 in the area of classic clubs -- mainly drivers, wedges and putters -- for about eight years. As the market got stronger and stronger and Japan started heading for those bubble years it really got out of control as I was one of three dealers and brokers in the United States. Finally it whittled down to where the metal woods came out (and drivers) went by the way side. Once Cleveland and a lot of the other guys started making great, classic type wedges those went by the way side. I honed in to only putters.
I used to buy and sell T.P. Mills hand-made putters and Tad Moore's, I use to get my hands on all of them. I went through hundreds and hundreds of really good collectable and useable items that the Tour players were looking for and playing with and so were collectors.
Eventually I started paying attention to how T.P. Mills did this. I said if this guy can do this I need to get an engineer and machinist and go figure out exactly how to get what my eyes know is good for the Tour player, how to get that made, get that done.
Q: You've been doing this since '92, but obviously the marketplace has changed considerably and the bubble in Japan burst. How hard is it to compete not only as a small company but a small company that focuses on just one club?
A: It's not hard to compete as long as you know your limitations and you know where your niche is. We have a great following of people who have confidence in what we create and design and we just try not to grow beyond our abilities and keep ourselves under control.
Originally when I made this mallet putter, Nick (Price) ended up winning the PGA Championship in '94 as he is becoming the No. 1 player in the world, and the Japan thing is still cooking. Then Annika (Sorenstam) gets the putter and wins her first seven events with it, with back-to-back U.S. Opens. Karrie Webb comes out of the box and wins with our putter right away. We just had one after the other after the other. We grew the thing to a multi-million dollar company and sold it to Fortune Brands in '97 for Cobra Golf's addition.
Now we got the company back and, by the way, they had to basically buy me out of my contracts and give it back to me and tear up the non-compete. So it wasn't something I had to purchase back. They had to pay me twice, which I thought was wonderful -- only in America.
Back to the competing, you have to absolutely create a better arrow and we know how to create a better arrow. We just came out with something brand new in the last few months that you barely have seen on the scene yet. All of our patents are finally filed and we've got something that I just fitted up Arnold Palmer over at Bay Hill and it's a belly style putter, but it is one that is designed around full forgiveness.
If you really stay in your niche, if you build this good brand, brand awareness is the whole thing. If you stay within your limitations you don't have to be No. 1, you just have to make the best product.
For the full Five Questions interview with Bobby Grace, click here.