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Ahh Sweet Spring

The robins are back, but man , they are pissed.  It snowed this morning in Des Moines.  The sun is out now though, and I, Pollyanna Tom, believe golf weather is just around the corner.  The City courses were slated to open last Friday, but it snowed Thursday.  Geez.
  PGA executive office candidates are in town today.  Our good friend Ted O'Rourke, head professional at Morris County Golf Club, is a candidate for Secretary.  Green grass pros, as well as those who work at driving ranges and other facilities know that the golf industry is changing.  Supply and demand is an issue:  there are too many golf courses in Iowa for all of them to prosper; especially if the operators keep doing things the same way.  Hell, doing the dame thing over and over again, but expecting a different result is a good definition of Insanity.  Pros need to focus on delivering EXCELLENT customer experience.  They should read Tom Peters and Guy Kawasaki about making meaning and serving their clientele, and about focusing on WOMEN.  Ted gets it.

Aerated Greens

Played a round at one of my favorite munis yesterday, Waveland Golf Course.  $15; no tee time; just walked up and was partnered with Chris, a young lawyer, and Keith and Sean,a father-son twosome who love golf.  Despite a a hellacious rain storm Friday, and humid weather all weekend the course was in fine shape.  It ought to be as it was the host for the Des Moines City Men's tournament last weekend and the Women's Tournament this past weekend.  The winners, of course, played really well:  Jon Brown, the Men's champion, won his third straight title with a 6 under score of 210, and Fiona Watson picked up the Women's title with a 2-under 142.  Great golf.  I played the course both Sundays after the tournaments were held. 
I am no champion golfer, and my putting is still a work in progress, but I noticed that  Waveland had recently aerated the greens and the furrows made a difference.  Now they weren't like the furrows Jack wanted in the traps for the Open, God forfend! But, lag a downhill putt and the aeration furrows really channeled the ball; hitting cross-furrow required a youthful approach to short putts.  Maybe they rolled them for the tourneys; maybe those guys and gals are just that much better; but I have to wonder why they couldn't have waited a couple of weeks.

Still, for only $15 after 4 pm, it is a great course.

BTW, this is the only competitive golf event Watson plays in; good for her.

A new golfing buddy

Just a quick intro to Kirsten Mortensen author of the coolly named Golfolicious blog.  Self described as "a writer, a mom, and nearly always in a good mood" she is also a golf fanatic.  She posted her 2007 resolutions for golf.  A fine writer and a golfer with a fine attitude.  We wish her well as she promotes the game we love.  Also check out Scot Duke's suite of sweet golf and business sites: Business Golf. He offers a unique approach to business consulting and a keen eye to the business of golf as well, something we appreciate.  He also plays great music via Sonific's widget.  Check it out. 

Charge by the hour

Brandon Tucker, staff writer at WorldGolf.com suggests, tongue-in-cheek, that golf courses should charge by the stroke.  He makes a lot of sense but recognizes the real problem of enforcement.  After writhing through Sean O'Hair's excruciatingly slow pace of play and being stick behind a foursome that was clearly clueless about pace of play (why was the same guy always looking for his tee shot (from the blues no less) in the gorse about 50 yds off the tee box hole after hole? Even the 11-year old in his group that Saturday morning was out-driving him. And what is an 11-year old doing in a Saturday morning group anyway?)  I say charge them by the hour.  All it takes is a swipe of their credit card and an easy hook-up to a digital timer.  My comment to Tucker's article follows:

Courses could charge by the hour (or the quarter hour) with the rate per fraction of hour increasing, a lot, after four hours, and going through the roof after 4 1/2 hours.  On the flip side courses could offer discounts to players who finish or promise to finish in less than 4 1/2 hours.  Sheesh, when I was a young caddy, good players routinely finished 18 holes, with a snack and a roll of the dice at the turn in four hours--walking, no yardage markers (except a few buses at 150 yds out, no GPS or range finders.  Caddies helped but those guys knew how to play along.  Heck even the giggle golfers in the afternoons finished in well under 5 hours.  Charge by the hour and offer incentives for fast play.

Zach is back; he never really left...

Jay Flemma asks, rhetorically, in his golf blog, A Walk in the Park, "Is Zach Johnson validated yet?"  I tried to post a comment but Word Press was a little bonky, so I'll post it here today:

Given how few ever win one tournament, let alone a major and a couple tournaments, and get high marks for Rider Cup tenacity, Zach Johnson has nothing left to prove. People who know him here in Iowa say what you see is what you get; he just flat out works hard. Certainly not as flashy as Badds or Villegas, he does know how to close the deal, something many of today's pros, men and women both, can't seem to master. Heck, why should they, when they can make millions coming in third, THIRD!!!? I've said it before, Zach Johnson is the real deal. He knows how to win. Zach will be back.

As Jay put it: "Looks like a keeper to me."  Nice work Jay.

Golf "Girls"

In finding my way around the golf blogosphere I have found that women write some of the most interesting and readable blogs.  Often sassy and frequently irreverent the self-described female golf addicts who pen (pen?) these blogs represent a great and often overlooked opportunity for the golf business.  Tom Peters has argued for years that women represent one of the best, if not the best, untapped markets for all businesses.  The Golf Girl and The Golf Chick write fun and often provocative posts on a wide range of golf issues; The Fairway Flapper seems to focus on products and services targeting women golfers (she gets it).  A new site, definitely not for the meek and maybe not for kids (all these sites, like most women I know, treat adults like adults) is Chicks with Sticks whose author penned one of my favorite rejoinders to date.  (I leave it to you to figure out which one.)  I believe we need more variety and more points of view in order to grow golf.  These distaff bloggers may not be to everyone's taste, but neither are Fuzzy, Phil, and Tiger. 

BTW, I just stumbled upon Scot Duke's interesting Business Golf blog; he gets it too.

On the Tee--Radio Golf

Just a quick shout out to our friend Mike Rickord.  Mike has built a little multi-media company in the Heartland, the Iowa Sports Connection.  He covers youth and prep sports in a monthly magazine, a couple of radio programs and a growing web site.  A related venture targeting adults is a fun show called On the Tee featuring Mike and two local pros, Judd Gibb from The Legacy Golf Club of Norwalk, Iowa, and Bob Vanscoy from Waveland Golf Course in Des Moines, Iowa.  They discuss local golf and golfers, products and equipment, and interview PGA pros.  Fuzzy Zoeller was the guest last Saturday, and after listening I wanted to sit down with Fuzz and listen to him tell tales.  This is my second encounter with golf radio (a couple weeks ago I discussed the golf industry with Ric Silvestrini (who happens to operate the Iowa Golf Tour, a series of amateur tournaments,) on a morning drive-time show on KXNO, 1460 am); it's fun and I am amazed at the number of people who mention the shows.  On the Tee airs from 9-11 in the morning Saturdays on WOW, 98.3 FM.  Audio casts of the shows are also available on the Iowa PGA website.  If you are in the golf business consider radio for getting the word out.

Zach's Win Good For Golf

After a few days away with my family and the in-laws...we're back! Although it's a little late; how about that Iowa Boy Zach Johnson winning this year's Masters? I'm sure the casual golf fan knew of Zach as he was a member of the US Ryder Cup team this past September and he has been in contention since his arrival on tour just a short time ago, but by no means was he a household name.

I think Zach's victory tells a great story of what golf is all about. Just about everyone in the world, except for Frank Nobilo of the Golf Channel picked Tiger Woods to win on Saturday night. And why not? Tiger hadn't played great yet and he stumbled his way home two rounds in a row...the tournament was his for the taking. Golf is a funny game. Some will say the golf gods got to Tiger...in fact most would say that. I say Zach Johnson got to Tiger. He had a game plan and he stuck to it. He didn't go for a single par 5 in two all week! He kept the ball on the correct sides of the fairways and the greens and limited his mistakes. Most importantly, he made the 5-8 footers when he had to. Tiger didn't and Retief Goosen didn't.

This win is good for golf. I know our friends at Iowa Sports Connection are happy (and Iowans in general!) Tiger has been so incredible we forget that he is human...and he is. Zach ignored the reporters saying short-knockers can't win at Augusta; ignored the roar he heard standing over his 3rd shot at 15 and calmly went on to do what everyone else thought Tiger would do.

Zach Johnson won the Masters and he did it with the world's greatest golfer right there with him. That should help everyone else out when facing similar circumstances with Mr. Woods and make the ending of major tournaments more interesting; there may be a slight chink in the armor now...only time will tell.  Zach Johnson may never be a household name, but he gave a little hope to everyone else on tour that's for sure.