Green Reading

Latest Hootie MAM commitments

The following celebrities, listed alphabetical have committed to participate in the 15th annual Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am on April 13 at Barefoot Resort's Dye Club:
Steve Azar, Jerome Bettis, Mark Bryan, Javier Colon, Andrew Copeland, Dean Felber, Ric Flair, Jackie Flynn, Ken Griffey, Sr., Samuel L. Jackson, Charles Kelley, Josh Kelley, Johnny Lee, Paul Maguire, Branford Marsalis, Edwin McCain, Kyle Petty, Scott Phillips, George Rogers, Darius Rucker, Sterling Sharpe, Jim Sonefeld, Kevin Sorbo, Steve Spurrier, Kordell Stewart, Mickey Tettleton, Dan Tyminski, Gary Valentine.
Golf professionals scheduled to appear include: Woody Austin, Eric Axley, Ricky Barnes, Matt Bettencourt, Kris Blanks, Josh Broadaway, Kris Cox, John Daly, Nick Flanagan, Tommy Gainey, Robert Gamez, Chad Ginn, Billy Kratzert, Spencer Levin, Mark Lye, Jim McGovern, Kristy McPherson, David Mobley, Larry Rinker, Lee Rinker, Annika Sorenstam, Kyle Thompson, Nicholas Thompson, Jim Thorpe.

 

Woods in, Johnson out at Bay Hill

Tiger Woods will defend his title in next week's Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard in what is expected to be his final tuneup before the Masters. Chances are slim to none that Woods will play the Shell Houston Open the week between Arnie's tournament and Augusta. Without another strong performance at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Woods could enter the Masters second in the world rankings behind Phil Mickelson.
Woods has won five times at Bay Hill _ four consecutive years from 2000-03 and again last year, when he sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the final green for a round of 66 and a 270 total to win by one stroke over Bart Bryant. Woods has never missed a tournament at Bay Hill as a professional, and this will be his 13th appearance since starting in 1997. He also played as an amateur in 1994.
Dustin Johnson of Myrtle Beach is not in the Bay Hill field, so he's taking a second consecutive week off and will likely play a Masters warm-up tournament in Houston, where he missed the cut as a rookie last year. Johnson tied for 54th at Bay Hill last year.

Myrtle Beach loses legend in Cudone

Just a week after her induction into the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame, one of the pioneers of the Grand Strand golf industry has died.
Carolyn Cudone, 90, died Thursday morning at her home in North Myrtle Beach.
Cudone is one of the greatest female champions in the history of the United States Golf Association, and is the founder of the Myrtle Beach Junior Golf Program.
She won five consecutive U.S. Women's Senior Amateur Championships from 1968-72 as well as seven South Carolina Women's Amateur titles. She also played on one U.S. Curtis Cup team and captained another.
She started the junior program in 1981 and ran it as a volunteer for 21 years, until she handed over the reigns at the age of 83.
Cudone, a lifelong amateur, called a meeting of a handful of Myrtle Beach golf professionals to start the junior program. Gene Weldon, current director of golf at The Thistle who has been a golf pro on the Strand for 38 years, was among them.
``What she did [with the junior program] was amazing, but to know Carolyn you'd understand it,'' Weldon said. ``When she was passionate about something she was unstoppable. She got it in her head, followed it through, and we had a great junior golf program in Myrtle Beach for many years because of that sweet woman. She made us do it.''
LPGA Tour member Kristy McPherson of Conway credits Cudone's program for her golf scholarship to South Carolina and her pro career. Cudone was admired by many.
In addition to the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame _ the inaugural six-person class was inducted last Thursday at Pine Lakes Country Club _ she's in the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame and was a recipient of the Winnie Palmer Award.
``She always had a smile, was humble, and was always gracious,'' Weldon said. ``I don't know when the service is going to be, but you'd better get there early.''

Driver testing is in

What I consider the best rankings for golf equipment comes from Rankmark, because the testing is done by a collection of random golfers. Rankmark provides golfers with a suitable environment to test and rate golf clubs that is free of influence from manufacturers. Testers record their findings and they are reported on www.Rankmark.com. For every test Rankmark has, it uses: Men High Handicappers (with a handicap of over 10); Men Low Handicappers (with a handicap of under 10); Seniors (with an age over 50); and Women. There are combined findings and separate results for each. The company once had plans to test clubs in Myrtle Beach either during the busy spring golf season or the World Am, but it never materialized. I was going to do a story when the company came.
It has most recently tested drivers, and Ping was the big winner. The top five were: 1, Ping G10; 2, TaylorMade Burner; 3, Ping Rapture V2; 4, Cleveland Launcher; 5, Callaway FT9. The G10, Burner and Launcher are all priced under $299

Dustin commits to Heritage

If you want to see Dustin Johnson of Myrtle Beach play nearby and can't get into the Masters, don't fret. Johnson has committed to play in the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island for the second consecutive year. The event is April 16-19. Johnson missed the cut last year near the beginning of a tough stretch for him in his rookie season. Johnson joins Y.E. Yang, Pat Perez and Mark Wilson as recent commitments to the tournament. Others include two-time defending champion Boo Weekley, former winners Davis Love III, Justin Leonard and Stewart Cink, and other notables including Tim Clark, Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey, DJ Trahan, Lucas Glover and Bill Haas.

Buster Bryan next into Hall?

During his induction speech at the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame ceremony at Pine Lakes Country Club on Thursday, Cecil Brandon made his pitch for the next inductee in 2010. Brandon mentioned Buster Bryan in his speach, saying Bryan took him under his wing when he moved to the beach from North Carolina in 1959.
Brandon is a founder of marketing cooperative Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, and Bryan, who was a partner of inductee General Jim Hackler in the Caravelle Hotel, is credited with bringing the concept of the golf package business to the Grand Strand in the 1960s. Bryan began Golf-O-Tels, which was a predecessor to Golf Holiday and included the Caravelle and a few other motels. It later was absorbed by Golf Holiday. According to those who knew him, Bryan was a visionary who had an impact on many of the people considered to be Myrtle Beach's golf pioneers, so maybe his time will come next year.

Dustin off to solid start at Doral

Dustin Johnson of Myrtle Beach got off to a quick start then played steady golf Thursday in the first round of the World Golf Championship-CA Championship, and is tied for 27th at 2-under 70 at Doral. Four players share the lead at 7-under 65, including Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen.
Johnson birdied two of his first three holes, and carded one bogey and one birdie for the remainder of his round. He displayed his power again, leading the field with an average driving distance of 326.5 yards, but he needed 30 putts.

Ogilvy has become big-game player

Like Chris Carter in football, who Buddy Ryan once comically condescendingly said ``only catches touchdowns,'' Geoff Ogilvy only wins big tournaments. The 31-year-old Australian only has seven victories worldwide. Three are World Golf Championship events and one is the 2006 U.S. Open. He's building an impressive yet enigmatic resume. He's won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship twice and is the defending champion of next week's WGC-CA Championship. His only other victories are January's winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship, the 2005 Tucson Open, and the 2008 Australian PGA. Ogilvy's three WGC titles are second only to Tiger Woods' 15 wins. Woods (15), Ogilvy (3) and Darren Clarke (2) are the only players to win multiple WGCs. Four of Ogilvy's wins have come with Woods in the field, making him the youngest player with that distinction. Don't take him in the office pool at the John Deere, but watch out at April's Masters.

No knowledge, no foul

There's a very small chance Dustin Johnson used a ball that did not conform to regulations set by the United States Golf Association when he won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Whether or not he did won't affect his title, and of course the infinitesimal advantage he may have gotten from the ball had no bearing on his four-stroke victory. Johnson uses the TaylorMade TP Red LDP ball. TaylorMade has admitted some of the balls exceed the USGA initial velocity limit, and voluntarily removed the ball from the USGA's Conforming Ball List, effective March 2. The company claims less than two thousandths of all TP Red LDP balls produced violated the velocity rule. The company said it occurred because the wrong core was placed inside the TP Red balls.
It was unknown whether Johnson used a nonconforming ball, but according to the PGA Tour’s standard rules policy, no action would be taken against the Myrtle Beach resident because the ball was on the Conforming List at the time of his victory.

Hopefully Wachovia name only subtraction

Charlotte's annual PGA Tour stop is changing its name, but let's hope not much else with the tournament changes. The former Wachovia Championship and new Quail Hollow Championship has attracted perhaps the top field in golf outside of the majors and World Golf Championship events, and we can only hope that continues. The tournament is known for its extravagant perks for players and their families _ including but not limited to Mercedes courtesy cars for players and trips on private flights or yachts for players' wives _ which the community helped the tournament provide. That, along with a classic course most of the top players have enjoyed, has attracted the field. It will be interesting to see if those perks continue.
They apparently won't be provided by Wells Fargo, the bank that purchased Wachovia and has stripped the event of all bank-related names despite continuing sponsorship. Wachovia signed a contract extension in 2008 which runs through 2014. In acquiring Wachovia, Wells Fargo also acquired the tournament contract, under which the bank will pay between $6.5 million and $6.8 million annually for the title sponsorship and television fees. Wells Fargo will entertain clients with tickets, tent space and pro-am spots that it gets as part of its contract, spokeswoman Mary Beth Navarro said in a release. But she said it won't continue off-course entertainment such as concerts it has sponsored in the past.