How the game should be different
King for a day. Sounds interesting, doesn't it, even if your realm were merely the golf universe?
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Thankfully our game isn't one rife with famine and pestilence, not when compared to many other sports and the problems and issues they face. Still, for all the joy and satisfaction people derive from watching, playing and being around golf, it doesn't exist without its share of blind spots, frustrations and outright annoyances -- a rule that's on the blink, a requirement that's out of sync, a concept that has outlived its day.
It is with a benevolent 5-iron, then, that we offer a glimpse of what we would do if left in charge, a series of proposals suggested solely with the idea of helping make our grand game more exciting, fair and enjoyable.
Few things in golf rival Sunday at a major championship: Its distinctive combination of anticipation, tension and jubilation is embraced by competitors and fans alike. Yet what if you multiplied that feeling by two? Imagine the spectacle of the U.S. Open with the men's and women's titles up for grabs at the same time on the same course, similar to professional tennis. Using alternating tee times, and playing from separate tees, the dual dramas could unfold on a grand scale, raising the profile of the entire sport with the increased exposure the event would attract.
"Having the combined events is very positive," says U.S. Tennis Association executive Jean Nachand, formerly the VP of competition/on-site operations for the WTA Tour, which increased the number of events it holds concurrently with the men's tour beyond their four majors to 11 in the last decade. According to Nachand, fears one competition might overshadow another, or that the men and women might be unfairly compared, are exaggerated. "We both gain in the long run by doing this. We're working toward trying to promote professional tennis overall, whether it's men's or women's, which isn't necessarily the case with other sports."
No doubt there are logistical hurdles to be cleared for such "double vision" to take place in golf, although the USGA has some experience hosting two events at one place in the same week: the 2000 boys and girls juniors at Pumpkin Ridge. The event would have to be staged at facilities with two courses, the men and women playing one round on each before a 36-hole cut allowed everyone to converge on the same course for the weekend. Many USGA favorites (Baltusrol, Winged Foot, Pinehurst and Bethpage) have multiple courses, and venues such as Pebble Beach and Oakmont could remain in the rota by utilizing neighboring courses.
The size of the men's and women's fields would need to be reduced from their current 156 to a more manageable number -- 128. Weather contingencies also would need to be made, including Monday finishes. The biggest issue, though, according to Tom Meeks, the USGA's senior director of rules and competitions, would be course setup. "Preparing things in a way that's fair and challenging for both groups is the tricky part," says Meeks, pausing before continuing his thought. "But it is a pretty intriguing idea."
Victory in a major on the PGA Tour comes fully loaded. Endorsement opportunities increase, invitations to silly-season events roll in and there's the five-year free pass on the Tour. Is it too much to ask for something in return? In exchange for accepting their five-year exemption, major winners should be required to play two events of their choosing annually from the eight lowest-rated off the World Ranking the past three seasons -- the John Deere Classic, Texas Open, 84 Lumber Classic, Chrysler Classic of Greensboro, FedEx St. Jude Classic, Booz Allen Classic, Greater Milwaukee Open and Las Vegas. (Events opposite majors or World Golf Championships wouldn't be included.)
"Just two or three marquee players makes a huge difference," says John Deere director Clair Peterson. Played in September last year, out of the British Open's shadow for the first time in six years, Peterson's event attracted major winners Davis Love III, Greg Norman, Bernhard Langer and Vijay Singh. "Having these players re-energized the event and community interest," says Peterson, noting while this year's tournament moves back to July, the Wednesday pro-am has a waiting list. "It has more than a one-year effect."
Tom Wilcox, a PGA master professional at Quintero G&CC in Peoria, Ariz., believes there is an easy answer to golf's stagnant participation numbers: "If the 28,000 PGA pros took a personal interest in just one person per month to get them into the game, that would be an additional 336,000 players per year. In three years that's another million players."
Such logic is part of the thinking behind the PGA of America's current Play Golf America campaign and its designation of May as free lesson month since 1998. It's also why the program should be extended year-round. To get serious about growing the game, the PGA of America needs to mandate its members provide eight hours of free lesson time a month as part of their re-certification. Ideally, lessons would be given to people who do not regularly play at their facility -- a touchy subject at some private clubs but not insurmountable. A private-club pro could offer weekly two-hour clinics at a site other than the club and achieve the same end result. It's what growing the game is going to require.
Officials at the USGA and R&A already are said to be trying to get a mulligan for their Jan. 1 rule limiting club length to 48 inches that for some reason excluded putters. Unfortunately, the flat stick was perhaps most needed.
In short, longer putters are a big advantage. Too big. They minimize potential errors in the stroke by reducing the effects of jittery shoulders and wrists. No putter should be longer than 38 inches or be allowed to be anchored to a golfer's body.
As Gary Player once noted, nerves are part of the game. "[Golf's governing bodies] have allowed people to putt with a putter on their nose, on their chest, on their chin ... How can they let that go?" The answer is, they shouldn't.
Should one swing -- sometimes good, often lucky -- really be considered as sinful as spending a year playing pro golf? It can be in the USGA's eyes. By accepting a car or a lucrative cash sum (more than $750) in a hole-in-one contest, players must serve the same probationary period to regain their amateur status as many who intended to profit from their golfing ability. When justice is blind, it isn't always fair; allowing golfers to collect prizes from such contests without penalty wouldn't ruin the sport or taint the term amateur. For anyone concerned that people suddenly will barnstorm the United States in search of hole-in-one prizes, stipulate only one (of any amount) can be accepted per year.
Surreal is how many described the scene last November at the Links at Fancourt, 24 players, two captains and dozens of spectators standing around, all in desperate need of a flashlight. Others preferred to characterize the nightfall-induced tie at last year's Presidents Cup in South Africa with a different term after taking into account the final singles match didn't begin until 1:50 p.m.: preventable.
Delaying tournament start times, particularly at majors, is not without its purpose. The later the start, the more people watch on TV and the higher the ratings. Yet when adding eyeballs jeopardizes the tournament itself, the end doesn't justify the means. No tourney, regardless of its stature, should be scheduled to conclude later than 6:30 p.m. local time during daylight savings time, leaving wiggle room in the event of bad weather or a playoff.
While easy to plant the blame squarely on the television networks, domestic or foreign, there is equal culpability to go around. "In no way, shape or form are the networks able to 100 percent dictate to any of the golf governing bodies," says Jack Graham, former executive producer for golf at ABC. "It's in both sides' best interest. The more people watching, the more valuable the product is to the organization."
Part of the problem is that for a sport still afraid of the dark, golf has managed to outrace the sun more often than it has deserved (See the 1990 Masters and 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage). To their credit NBC and the USGA have set a 7 p.m. conclusion for next month's U.S. Open, an hour earlier than the last time the tournament visited Long Island. In a quest to be safe rather than sorry, another half-hour cushion would be better.
Given the exciting scene at Sweden's Barsebäck G&CC last September, some say the Solheim Cup just now is finding its identity and should be left alone as the United States against Europe. To do so, though, ignores that eight of the top 15 players on the 2003 LPGA money list (Se Ri Pak, Grace Park, Hee-Won Han, Candie Kung, Rachel Teske, Lorena Ochoa, Karrie Webb and Lorie Kane) weren't eligible to participate and that some day the world's top female might be watching from outside the ropes ... again (Webb, 2000). "There is a huge cultural opportunity to opening some of these foreign markets [to the Solheim Cup]," says David Carter, a marketing consultant with the Los Angeles-based Sports Business Group. South Korea already pays the LPGA more in broadcast-rights fees than any country outside the U.S. Expanding the Solheim Cup would tap into an already captive market and have a huge financial and practical upside.
The easiest expansion plan is to add a third team -- an International squad comprised of players from countries not already included. Each team plays six matches against one opponent and six more against the other each day, using foursomes, four-ball and singles. (For those concerned about players having five matches in three days, expand the rosters to 14.) The team with the most points overall goes home the winner.
Few things contribute more to slow play than someone walking to his ball only to see it's OB and having to return to where he last hit (that is, if you're among the few who still actually bother following the rule). If a ball's OB, treat it as a lateral hazard. Give yourself a one-shot penalty, instead of stroke and distance, and take your two club lengths. Then drop, hit and go.
When Phil Mickelson suggested last year that Tiger Woods was using "inferior equipment," it not only caused a controversy, but brought up another point: Just how much of a role does equipment play in the game the pros play?
One way of answering the question would be to have a tournament in which all the players use clubs and balls with identical specifications. There already has been talk of a "Masters ball," and if you think back to the heydays of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino, they didn't have the luxury of knowing their launch conditions or having a plethora of clubhead choices, materials and sizes to choose from. In short, their clubs and balls weren't that different from each other's and they seemed to manage just fine.
There is a precedent in sports. In auto racing the International Race of Champions series features drivers from all styles of racing competing in identically prepared cars and draws plenty of fans. And that's the main reason to do this in golf. Fan interest likely would be high, and it would further stir discussion and interest in both the tour and equipment. Plus it might even bring back a little bit of shotmaking into the game.
Raise your hand if you've taken a formal lesson in golf course etiquette. OK, for the few of you with your arms in the air, how many took it recently?
Therein lies the problem. For too many golf etiquette is considered little more than child's play, the final lesson offered a teenager before sending him off to the first tee. Yet even the most experienced golfer among us could stand a refresher in what's expected while playing a round at any course around the country.
"There are many things golfers take for granted after a while playing the game," says Ken Morton Jr., proprietor of the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, Calif., who argues that a majority of the disappointing experiences golfers have during any given round stem from the bad habits of others with regard to how they've acted on the course: talking in a back swing, forgetting to rake a bunker, standing in the wrong place.
A little etiquette can go a long way for making the experience enjoyable for everyone, which is why all golfers regardless of handicap should be required to take a formal etiquette class once a year. As incentive for participation, those "graduating" from the class would receive a golf card or license that could be used to obtain discounted green fees at any course throughout the country.
"I think people are genuinely interested in knowing how to act on the course. Nobody wants to look foolish," says Morton, who has added an etiquette class as part of every lesson program sold at his course for every level of golfer. "They're the most highly attended lessons we offer beginning golfers. It's time then for the rest of us to follow suit."
Thanks to the First Tee program, more than 300,000 boys and girls who otherwise might not have tried golf have been given the chance in the past three years. The next step needs to be exposing them to competition within the sport. Establishing a program that provides enjoyable, affordable competitive opportunities -- call it First Tee Plus -- would nurture any initial interest in the game and help up-and-comers progress from beginner golfer to aspiring one.
"There is a clear role for us to reach out and provide ... coaching for kids who have talent but don't have access to the pros that your elite athletes do," says First Tee executive director Joe Louis Barrow Jr. Talks already are under way with the National Minority Golf Foundation regarding creation of such opportunities, including developmental camps. From there, kids could enter state and regional events while working toward playing nationally.
Helping youngsters beyond the introductory phase of golf doesn't stop with minorities, but is an issue meriting attention across the board. College coaches lament the development of American players, particularly girls, remains inconsistent. There is clearly an opportunity for the golf industry to step up, says Barrow, citing the American Junior Golf Association's recent grant-in-aid program to help expose more juniors to its tournaments. "The key," he says, "is to make sure we have a network where the kids don't have to travel too much and take [some of the] cost out of it."
Whatever happened to golf being a good walk spoiled? At too many courses walking isn't an option, golf carts having scored a quiet, bloodless coup. Equally disappointing are facilities that allow walking but charge golfers a "trail fee." Correct us if we're wrong, but isn't that what the green fee is for?
"Walking is golf and golf is walking. It's not even debatable," contends Mike Keiser, owner of Oregon's Bandon Dunes Resort, a 36-hole facility that is among a few places in the U.S. where it is walking that's mandatory. Keiser puts his money where his mouth is, forgoing an estimated $500,000 annually in lost cart revenue and the cost of running the resort's caddie program. It's worth the expense, he says, if golfers come to appreciate the "experience" that comes from playing the game while getting around the course while walking.
Bottom line: The opportunity to walk should not be prohibited at any golf course, period. It doesn't necessarily have to be encouraged, but it has to be allowed, particularly if the industry is to promote golf as a healthy sport for people of all ages. Facilities nervous about lost revenue can ask walkers to use pull carts, which can be rented for a fee, and courses with caddie programs can require golfers hire one whenever available.
Less than two months after the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, trustees at New Jersey's venerable Pine Valley GC held a pair of one-day outings, allowing nonmembers to play the course with proceeds going to the Twin Towers Fund. More than $260,000 later, the concept proved a simple, effective way to raise money while giving the public access to a course most would never have played. Such corporate citizenship should be extended to courses around the country. Think public golfers in Chicago wouldn't embrace the chance to play Medinah? Or San Francisco residents getting on Olympic Club? The same holds true for almost any private club, nationally renowned or otherwise, that would open its doors a handful of times a year. Forgo a few Monday corporate outings to clear the calendar. Allow golfers to enter a lottery and keep green fees reasonable. Give all earnings to a local charity, junior program or the First Tee. The impact -- in dollars and goodwill -- could be vast.
There are five words that, when uttered in the euphoria of victory on the PGA Tour, could make the hair stand up on the neck of even the biggest humbug.
"I'm going to the Masters."
At least that was the case until four years ago, when Augusta National GC did away with the tradition of inviting the previous year's tour winners to the tournament. In trying to beef up their field by using the World Ranking and the money list as entry criteria, tournament organizers tossed away much of the drama fans and players looked forward to each Sunday during the season. All you have to do is compare the jubilance of Davis Love III in 1995 when, needing a win in New Orleans the week before the Masters to get into the event, he came through with a remarkable playoff victory, to the bittersweet feeling of Scott McCarron in 2001, when he won the BellSouth Classic outside Atlanta the week prior to the Masters, only to return home to California rather than drive down I-20. "It's something everyone out here looked forward to," McCarron says. "I just hope some day they change it back."
If for no other reason than to bring back those five words.
Those scrambling each fall to be among the top 125 on the money list and earn a free pass on the PGA Tour for another year might argue differently, but there is too much job security in the current "all-exempt" tour, where a player can keep his card by being on his game just two weeks out of an entire year. In 2003 Steve Allan made the cut in only eight of the 18 events. A tie for second at the Greater Milwaukee Open followed by a T-5 at the B.C. Open the next week, however, banked the Aussie $406,250 or 65 percent of his overall earnings. At year's end he stood 105th on the money list, earning full playing privileges in 2004.
Allan isn't the only example. In the last five years Craig Barlow has played in 133 tour events, earning a check in roughly half (75 cuts made). Only 21 times has he finished in the top 25, but 10 of those he has walked away with a top-10 finish. He has managed to stick around on tour by finishing 124th on the money list in 1999 and 2002, 122nd in 2001 and 100th in 2003.
Raising the cutoff for keeping a tour card to No. 90 on the money list -- and expanding spots in a PGA Tour event for Monday qualifiers from four to 25 -- also answers critics who contend the "difficulty" of getting off tour is rivaled only by trying to get on it in the first place. The premium on a sustained performance throughout the year would be raised, increasing the quality of play.
Unless you're the leader of the free world or a doctor on call, there is no need to bring anything that chirps, beeps or buzzes the 1812 Overture on a golf course. "This is where you're supposed to be able to relax," says Inverness Club general manager Pat LaRocca, who notes that some members hesitated at first when the Toledo, Ohio, facility instituted a cell-phone ban two years ago but since have gained an appreciation for the ring-free environment. If you can't survive being out of contact with your people longer than 30 minutes, maybe you shouldn't be on the course to begin with.
Is there a golf fan who wouldn't be curious how Annika Sorenstam might fare at Amen Corner? Or whether Laura Davies could reach Pebble Beach's home hole in two? Or if Juli Inkster could get up and down from the road on the 17th at St. Andrews?
Sports business experts contend staging a women's event at any of the three courses -- or any venerable layout traditionally associated with the men's game -- would provide a marketing bonanza while elevating the status of women's golf. Sources familiar with discussions suggest the Women's British Open could come to St. Andrews in the not-too-distant future, and with Pebble Beach now hosting a Champions Tour event in addition to the AT&T, having the LPGA visit for a week would provide the course a unique trifecta.
"If the moon and the stars align perfectly, it would be wonderful to play an LPGA event at [such venues]," says LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw, although Augusta National's current membership policy would prohibit holding an official LPGA event. So what about bringing the Solheim Cup to Georgia, where the match-play format at Augusta National would offer another intriguing dimension?
Ryan Herrington is a senior writer at Golf World magazine
