Sitting in my housecoat, as the slob journalist that I am, and pondering a number of golf-related matters.
1. The Golf Channel. My tolerance is waning. Most of the time I turn it on and my Bell ExpressVu system lists the program as TV Shopping. How many bloody infomercials can one network have? And why are they on early in the morning on the weekends when Id rather be tuning into European Tour coverage? And yesterday with Vijay Singh and Rod Pampling tied in the matchplay, they cut away for the LPGA Tour, which is fine, but then insisted on showing every shot by Michelle Wie. Which brings me to point two…
2. Michelle Wie. Great to see her finally break par “ what did it take? A year? But is that enough to lead the Golf Channel to show every one of her shots? She went right back to her old ways yesterday “ shooting 73 and spraying the ball to the left regularly. Maybe witnessing every shot was designed to tie in with their three part exclusive series, Michelle at Stanford. Good god. Am I the only one who doesnt really think that series will offer us real insight into Wies freshman year other than the fact well see BJ and Bo hiding in the background of every shot.
3. Lorne Rubenstein. The Globes scribe has a nice “ if a touch late “ column about this years Canadian Golf Hall of Fame nominees. He makes some nice remarks about Jim Barclay in particular.
4. Rai Sahi. In connection with my blurb about a couple of executives departing ClubLink, I received a note to call CEO Rai Sahi for clarification. I called, but never heard back. Oh, diligent reader, I know youre waiting on the edge of your seats for this one.
5. TO Golf Show. Every year I head down on Friday to the Toronto Golf and Travel Show. For me it is an opportunity to catch up with some in the industry, touch base with some travel connections and usually grab lunch with a peer or two. That said, it is interesting to see some clubs “ like Eagles Nest “ decide the show isnt worth spending their cash on.
6. Tommys Honor. First I review the book and then it wins the USGA book award. Im divided on this one, since a project I was involved in was also nominated for the USGA award, but Tommys Honor is a fine and fascinating book nonetheless.
And finally…
7. Tiger. What was Aaron Baddeley thinking — that he could miss two relatively short putts to put away Tiger Woods and be given a third chance? That said, the match between Baddeley and Woods was one of the best examples of shotmaking I’ve seen in some time. Exciting, fascinating and intense. That’s as good as pro golf on TV gets. Now tell me why we don’t we have more matchplay events? And this Tiger Woods fellow is looking more and more unbeatable every time he tips it up.
Good Saturday morning RT.
If you’re talking to Rai, I think more people would be interested in his strategic plans than his plans to maintain/improve membership experience/communication.
If he’s trying to trim some costs and inch up fees to make the income statement look a little better to prospective private equity, I think he missed the boat by about a year and a half.
Anyway, it will be interesting to hear what he’s up to. Silence and others will fill the vacuum.
Today’s final of the match play shows why we don’t have more match play events as it looks like Tiger is going to win something like 9&8. Match play is great when it is close but it can be a disaster when it is a blowout, even more than stroke play events.