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Golf Notes December 26
Jack Nicklaus has Muirfield Village. Arnold Palmer has Latrobe and Bay Hill.
One of these days, Tiger Woods is going to want his own golf course he can call
home.
``I do have that in my plans,'' Woods said. ``I would love to design a golf
course, but I don't know when that's going to happen. Right now, my life is pretty
saturated. I want to be able to be involved in course design and be focused on
it.''
There's one other issue: Woods really doesn't know if he'll have a knack for
design.
He already has received more offers to design courses than his agent can count.
One consideration would be to get his feet wet by hooking up with a prominent
architect before branching out on his own.
When that time comes -- and Woods implied it could be years away -- he says
he'll draw on his experiences from playing around the globe. In his sixth year
as a pro, Woods already has played tournaments or exhibitions in 15 countries,
with New Zealand next on the agenda.
``What's neat for me is I do play around the world, and I've seen different
golf course designs and why there were built that way,'' he said. ``When I start
designing, I can bring a little bit of knowledge to the table. I'm not saying
I'm an expert, but at least I'll have a better understanding because I do travel.''
That leads to one important part of the puzzle. Where will this course be?
``Wherever land is available, and the right situation,'' he said.
USGA CHANGES
The U.S. Golf Association caught manufacturers off-guard again by announcing
a couple of major proposals: a limit on size and a new way to test golf balls.
The USGA wants drivers to be no more than 385 cubic centimeters of volume.
Nearly all the drivers submitted before 2001 were under 350cc, although companies
like Zevo Golf planned to go to the merchandise show next month with clubs that
would exceed those limits -- and would be nonconforming.
``With the increased enjoyment ... that larger clubheads have brought to this
great game of golf, I question why the USGA would want to determine these achievements
to suddenly be a violation of the rules,'' Zevo vice president David Boone said.
Joe Nauman, senior vice president and general counsel for Acushnet, said the
limit on large clubheads will not affect tour players but the recreational golfer,
``the one the USGA says they don't want to stifle.''
Dick Rugge, the USGA's technical director, said the USGA is only looking ahead
and says it will be a matter of time before tour players start using larger clubheads.
The USGA also wants to limit the length of clubs to 47 inches. If adopted,
that rule would not become effective until 2004.
Meanwhile, the ``Iron Byron'' robot will continue to be used for testing golf
balls, but it will get some upgrades.
Instead of a wood driver and a distance ball, the robot will be fitted with
a titanium driver and a more modern golf ball to establish the overall distance
standard. Test conditions will change to reflect ``a manner similar to the way
current highly skilled players drive the ball.''
Also, the USGA will use an indoor test range to monitor how far a ball goes,
saying it will be more accurate than outdoor conditions.
The USGA believes the overall distance standard limits will change under newtest
conditions, but does not expect it to alter the list of conforming balls.
CHRISTMAS GIFT
David Gossett gave his elementary school in Germantown, Tenn., quite a gift
the week before Christmas -- a John Deere Gator utility vehicle, part of the prize
from winning the John Deere Classic.
St. George's Day School in suburban Memphis, where Gossett attended kindergarten
through the sixth grade, plans to use it for maintenance operations.
``I'm very fond of St. George's and wanted to give something back to the school
that gave me so much,'' said the 22-year-old Gossett.
John Deere has been giving a riding mower to its winner the past two years.
Gossett had little use for one. He still lives at home with his parents when he's
not bouncing from one hotel to the next while on tour.
When he learned that St. George's preferred a utility vehicle instead of theriding
mower, Gossett paid the $4,000 difference.
DIVOTS
Kiawah Island, site of the 1991 Ryder Cup and the UBS Warburg Cup in November,
might not have to wait 10 years to get team matches. The PGA Tour plans to bring
the World Cup to the South Carolina resort in 2003. ... Frank Chirkinian, former
golf producer at CBS Sports whose innovations at the Masters included the over-
and under-par method of scoring, has been named president and executive producer
of Gaylord Event Television. ... At 7,200 square feet, Ping will have one of the
largest exhibits at the PGA Merchandise Show next month. In 2003, it will have
the smallest -- none. Ping has decided not to return, saying it can be more effective
taking its equipment directly tocustomers.
STAT OF THE WEEK
Of the top 10 players on the PGA Tour money list, onlyBob Estes was among the
top 10 in putting.
FINAL WORD
``For two or three years now it's been mediocre, with last year being terrible.''
-- Fred Couples, who hasn't won since 1998, on the state of his game.
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