Thought for the Day
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but duck when you throw something at him?
Less is more?
It is time to ponder, I think, whether golf is to go the same way as cricket, so that in a decade’s time the great majority of tournaments will not be the traditional 72 hole strokeplay events with which we are so familiar, but a shorter, punchier affair completely. And although such a suggestion may seem heretical, especially to the purists, who probably wish that women still played in whalebone corsets, men were obliged to wear plus fours and all of them smote the ball with the jawbone of an ass, it is nevertheless a suggestion we need to take seriously. If we do not, we may all find ourselves overtaken by events, just as cricket was – first by the Packer revolution in the 1970s, and more recently by the explosion in demand for Twenty20.
Interest in the 20-over game has been largely nurtured on the sub-continent, with the Indian Premier League proving the forerunner to international competitions, and who’s to say the same won’t happen in golf. Yes, India, Pakistan and China have, to date, little golfing pedigree in terms of producing home grown talent or staging big events but that is changing rapidly. China is contracted to stage the World Cup of Golf at Mission Hills for several years to come and this week Shanghai is welcoming the world’s best to compete in the WGC-HSBC Champions. Couple that with the knowledge that golf has been accepted as an Olympic sport, which in turn brings significant IOC funding to developing nations, and the fact that this year saw the first ever Major win by a male Asian golfer, and it is clear that the future development of the game lies east, especially now that so many new courses are being built in Asia.
And in order to attract even more interest on the sub-continent, this week sees the launch, in Mumbai, of Peter McEvoy’s PowerPlay golf. This essentially involves a field of 16, divided equally between known golf pros and a mixture of club pros and good amateurs. They play a nine-hole course, to a format similar to Stableford points, but on certain ‘black flag’ holes can elect to take on a tougher shot to double their points. The top-6 then play the nine holes again, this time in reverse.
The idea may appal you but be honest, would you rather watch that, or sit through six hours of coverage, for four consecutive days, of a routine 72-hole Tour event? Even the most avid of golf fans baulks, I think, at that prospect. And if this shortened format does catch the imagination of wannabe far eastern golfers, the potential for expanding the game in places like India and China is almost limitless, which means that equipment manufacturers, television companies and pro Tours will all turn their attention to this vast new market.
You may not like the idea but you might soon have to get used to it.
Purple prose
I am a fan of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, which celebrates the worst opening lines in novels, and was created in memory of the author who penned the immortal: ‘It was a dark and stormy night’. My favourite entry is: ‘A par on the final hole would clinch the US Open for the in-form Tiger Woods but, in truth, this mattered little to Herbert Cruddle as a gigantic wave swept him over the side of his floundering shrimp trawler.’
(http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/)
Picture completely unrelated to golf
Just thought you might enjoy this confused moose
Talking Turkey
I have had to turn down several press trips to the Belek region of Turkey, which caused me great grief, but kept hearing good things about the place so last week my wife and I took a holiday there. All I can say is, the courses met and exceeded all my expectations. There are 14 in a small area and all except one (Lykia Links) are carved through pine forests, which might make you think the golfing experience would become monotonous but it does not.
The fairways are wide, the challenge varied and the water hazards, generally, not ubiquitous. I am a great fan of really good short par fours, and worry that we are seeing fewer of them because of the nonsensical distances Tour pros hit the ball nowadays, but in Turkey we played at least two or three on every course and it was a refreshing delight. Add to this the fact that all the layouts were superbly maintained, we experienced blue skies and late October temperatures between 23-28C, and it adds up to a great package.
Divided by a common language
I get to hear a lot of golf jokes, few of which are funny, and even fewer of which are original. So on the rare occasions that one raises a smile, I’ll try and remember to pass it on.
An American was playing golf in Scotland on an unexpectedly warm day and realised he’d forgotten to buy any water in the pro shop. So he knelt down at a wee stream and was drinking from it with his hand when a Scots golfer on an adjoining fairway called across: ‘Awa ye feel hoor that’s full O’ coos Sharn,’ [Translation: ‘Don’t drink the water, it’s full of cow shit.’]
The man shouted back: ‘I’m American. Speak English, I don’t understand you.’
The Scotsman bellowed back: ‘Use both hands, you’ll get more in.’
Quote of the week
Golf is like an 18-year-old girl with the big boobs. You know it’s wrong but you can’t keep away from her.
Val Doonican