The Golfchick

That chick blabbing about anything golf related.

Category: News (page 6 of 7)

World record hole-in-one at Ko’olau!

February 9, 2007 / / 11 Comments


Ko’olau is considered by many the toughest golf course in the United States. I have a Ko’olau shirt that boasts the rating right on the sleeve. It’s also one of the most beautiful golf courses I have ever played.

The number 1 handicap hole at Ko’olau (for the handicap handicapped challenged that means the hardest hole) is number 18.

So, you’re on the most difficult hole of the most challenging course in the country. What do you do? If you’re Bret Melson, you ace it! Sure, he’s part of the San Diego Golf Academy: Hawaii campus, it’s his home course and he has probably played that hole hundreds of times, but none of that makes it any less of an amazing feat. And yes, a new world record for the longest ace. Congratulations, Bret! You can read (and hear) the whole story on the SDGA website. For most people, acing a par-3 is enough of an accomplishment. Acing any old par-4 would be absolutely incredible. I guess for Bret, that just wouldn’t have done it.

It really is challenging!

I have played this golf course twice. The first time was three months after my very first round of golf. I played the forward tees which only have course and slope ratings of 72.9/129. I actually managed to make par on 18. The second time I played there was 7 months later so I’d been playing for 10 whole months and thought I should really experience the difficulty so I played from the blue tees (the next set back from the forwards – equivalent to white tees on average courses) with course/slope ratings of 78.7/153 for women (when I played the ratings from the tips for men weren’t even that high but it looks like the course has been re-rated since then). And… I experienced the difficulty. I carded a 9 on 18. Yes, a 9. And I recorded the whole bittersweet experience on digital media.

My 18th hole experience at Ko’olau


From the tees at 18. The first of two forced carries (unless you’re like Bret and decide to cross the rain forest on the right with your teeshot).

My first shot actually ended up here, near the drop area. (Local rules indicate that balls lost in ravines are a one stroke penalty, then played from the drop area on the other side on holes 1,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,14,16,18. Gotta speed up play somehow on this monster.) No penalty for me. Only one stroke so far. What could go so wrong now? Well, there’s another forced carry up there but I’m no hero. I’ll lay up…


…to here. Perfect – so far so good. Two strokes so far, I still have my golf ball and at this point I’d be happy to get a bogey. Forced carries off a tee aren’t as daunting to me as danger on the deck. My hacking around commences with my 3 wood from here, which, when struck well would have been on the green. But alas, it finds the ravine.


I decided this was the drop area. Hitting 5 from here. Coincidentally, that patient man waiting on the green was also named Bret. Just some guy that joined on the back nine. There was no one behind us and I told him he could play ahead without me because I’d be taking lots of photos. But there he is… just waiting and waiting.

Two sand wedges later, I’m on the green in 6. Then I proceed to three putt. Yes, from here. I know, but I guess this course just rattled me. 5 over on one hole. Ouch.

Here’s the overhead view. If I played this course every day, I might try carrying it all in one at some point like Bret Melson did. I wonder: if you go that way and it goes in the forest, do you get to drop over there instead of on the fairway on the left? That would save a few strokes. :)

gc at koolauHere I am attempting to cross yet another ravine on #6. Failed here, too, but only took a triple bogey on this hole. Damn you, Ko’olau! I’ll be coming back for you!


Update: thought I should show the damaging evidence. Here’s what you can’t see in the previous photo.

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DST extended… means more golf this year!

January 31, 2007 / / 4 Comments

Whatever else you want to say about the U.S. government, it did something good for golfers (and nuclear and oil companies) back in 2005 when President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Starting this year, Daylight Saving Time will start earlier and end later than before, giving golfers more opportunities to play! We can start squeezing in those twilight rounds after work in March now! And if we’re lucky, the golf courses will be slow in adjusting their twilight rates to follow suit so we can weasel in some real bargains.


The new system gives us four weeks more of DST, with three of the weeks coming at the beginning and one week at the end. So, where we used to set the clocks forward on the first Sunday of April, now we do it on the second Sunday of March. And we don’t have to set them back until the first Sunday of November instead of the last Sunday of October.

I don’t know about you, but I always looked forward to Daylight Saving Time even before I became a golfer. Now I have even more reason to rejoice.

I keep all the extra daylight in a 5-gallon Arrowhead bottle and cash it in when it’s full. I hear American Express and Diners Club are going to start exchanging it point for point in 2008 so we can redeem those rewards even faster!

The Department of Energy will study the impact of the change and report its findings to Congress, which has reserved the right to change it back if the report is unfavorable. Just in case, enjoy the shifted time while you can! That is, unless you live in one of those weird places that doesn’t observe DST in the first place.

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Steroid testing in golf

January 29, 2007 / / 1 Comment

Some women are naturally stronger or more athletic than others. Some really work on their bodies to increase their strength and skills. Some are more logically than emotionally oriented. These women already have an edge against their peers and will be among the first to be accused of “juicing.”

I know from experience that such an accusation, however tongue-in-cheek it is disguised, can rile a girl. A word to the innocent – don’t react angrily; it’ll just fuel their malice or raillery with innuendos of ‘roid rage to further push your buttons.

My new column on Worldgolf.com discusses the topic of steroid testing in golf.

For more opinions on this subject, check out these posts on The Sand Trap, Golf Punk and The Golf Blogger. If I’ve left out your favorite reference or you have your own opinions, let me know!

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Another Taylor Made driver

January 25, 2007 / / 5 Comments

Since I’m such a TaylorMade chick, this new driver caught my eye. It seems to have been launched with a whisper and I can’t find that much information about it. It’s not even on the Taylor Made website yet!

taylormade burner driver
Here it is: The Taylor Made Burner Driver. It also comes in a “TP” model, which increases the price by $100 if nothing else. It’s less expensive than many other TM drivers, at only $299 and $399 (for the TP). Maybe our golf blogger friends at the PGA Merchandise show will bring back some more information on it. Personally, I think TaylorMade oughta send me one to test!

I’m just happy that as far as I know, Taylor Made has not released a square driver. Hallelujah. I know, I know – it’s probably just a matter of time. And maybe that’s why this one’s sneaking onto the scene – it’s not in line with the current fad.

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Worldgolf in the news

January 23, 2007 / / 2 Comments

My editor over at Worldgolf sent me a link to an interesting story. A group of investors teamed up to buy the Worldgolf network which includes many golf and travel websites with worldgolf itself as the flagship property. Here is the story on the”multi-million dollar” acquisition.

Buyouts usually bring big changes, but worldgolf already had some changes in the works. From their press release, it sounds like those same changes are still in progress.

In our e-mail exchange, William K Wolfrum was optimistic about what the sale will mean for the site (and optimism is not his specialty). He said he didn’t think there were going to be major changes in personnel, that they will be “moving forward, not cutting back… it’ll be like a surge around here,” and finally, that “the sale will be a very good thing overall.”

There are a few ways to look at his angle here. Perhaps:

  • He’s using the “never say anything in an email you wouldn’t want published in the company newsletter” rule of thumb (and doesn’t trust me not to betray his confidence)
  • He’s truly that professional
  • He really believes this will be a positive thing

I think it might be all three. People don’t buy websites to run them into the ground – unless they’re a competitor. There are a few changes I know I’d like to see on worldgolf, but I think I’ll reserve those comments, at least for now.

I’m interested to know more about the new owners but a quick search on David Brittain didn’t come up with anything definitive, and the PR company’s website doesn’t even show “Worldgolf.com LLC” as one of their clients yet. I just contacted them via email so I hope they’ll have some more info for me.

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Stock car racing is easy – but watch out for those golf carts!

December 12, 2006 / / 2 Comments

This weekend, Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson took a spill from a golf cart and fractured his wrist in the process. The incident happened at a celebrity charity golf tournament in Lecanto, Florida.

In his official story he claimed that he “was in a golf cart and the driver took a sharp turn… I wasn’t holding on tight enough, landed awkwardly on the ground and heard a little pop.”

As it turns out, he was in fact ON the golf cart when that driver took a sharp turn. I guess golf cart driving isn’t quite as exciting as NASCAR racing. Yep, “horsing around” on the roof of the cart, according to his team.

Don’t fall off, Jimmie!

It is the off-season for NASCAR, so he’ll have plenty of time to heal before he has to compete again. However, the much celebrated driver of the Lowe’s car won’t be able to participate in the all-star, international “Race of Champions” in Paris this coming Saturday.

Maybe Jimmie should stick with this golf cart next time.

I bet his teammates and competitors aren’t going to let him forget this mishap for awhile.It kind of makes me think that driving a stock car must be relatively easy. I mean heck, I drive golf carts all the time and have never had a single incident. No crashes, no injuries, nothing. I bet if I had a huge corporate team behind me that designed a winning car, I could get strapped in to that baby with all the protective gear and drive that thing to victory! Need a sub in Paris, Jimmie?

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Rustic Canyon fire damage

December 5, 2006 / / 0 Comments

I have some updated information about how Rustic Canyon Golf Course fared in the Shekell / Happy Camp fire.

Some areas on the back nine were singed and a lot of the environmental or native areas burned. None of the actual playing surfaces sustained any damage. The golf course was without power until 9:00 AM today. The watering system that was in some of the native areas was damaged and is being repaired. Right now, they’re in a clean-up and repair mode and the course will re-open for play on Friday.

Moorpark Country Club is open and pretty much back to business as usual today.

Scroll down for yesterday’s post on the fire which has some other updated information.

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Moorpark (Shekell) Fire

December 4, 2006 / / 4 Comments

I am updating this post periodically. Updates are in blue.

Most of you have probably heard about the fire that is blazing through the Moorpark area.

For detailed information on evacuations, road and school closures from the sheriff’s department, visit this website.

Update: I got an e-mail from KNBC that they are running a live stream of continuing coverage and raw video from the fire. I checked it and it was last night’s coverage but they told me the chopper is refueling and live stream will be back up soon. Here’s the link. (10 AM – 5 PM)

It is fire season and it seems like in each of the last several years there’s been at least one fire right around here that puts us all on edge. In the so-called Shekell fire (named for the road where it started), several homes and buildings have already been lost and thousands are still threatened as it continues to burn and the Santa Ana Winds continue to move it through the fuel filled brush areas.

Embers fly in this photo of the building and property of MGR Design going up in flames. (L.A. Times)

Moorpark Country Club

The fire went right through my favorite local public golf course, Moorpark Country Club. Sunday morning around 8:00, golf pro Leo Lee closed up shop as the Sheriff’s department recommended evacuations in the area.

This morning, Moorpark CC seems to be out of harm’s way as the fire has moved along to torment other areas. The golf course sustained damage to scrub brush and it’s still very smoky so only a skeleton crew is on location and no golfers are around. The roads are closed and it’s unsafe to be outside breathing all the particulates. Even without a fire, golfers would be scarce because of the insane winds.

I actually had a tee-time at Moorpark on Saturday morning and opted out with the rest of my foursome because the wind was blowing us away as we stood there and discussed whether or not to play. Gusts to 70 mph – sustained winds probably around 40-50. No thanks. But punishing winds are merely an inconvenience for golfers.

Those are the same conditions that make the fires nearly impossible to fight. Firefighters can’t stand steady with their hoses and helicopters can be grounded (they’re up right now). Small aircraft has difficulty staying on course to land their targets with water. However, when they need water, they can use water hazards at the area golf courses to fill up their tanks.

Residents evacuate at the north end of Valley Road in Moorpark. (L.A. Times)

Update: I got an e-mail from Steve Vigiano, the Director of Golf at Moorpark CC. He says: “We are fine. Just some minor fire damage to the brush on the Canyon and Ridgeline side of the course. We have been closed for the past 2 days [and] we will be open tomorrow. I have heard that Rustic Canyon had a lot of damage to the Native areas. I believe that the course is OK. There is no way to communicate with Rustic right now.”

Rustic Canyon Golf Course

Another fire that is part of the Shekell blaze burned through Happy Camp which is the location of Rustic Canyon Golf Course. I have tried to contact them this morning for an update but have been unable to reach anyone there. Perhaps the power and phone lines are down there. I’ll continue to try and post an update when I have more information. If anyone knows anything, please post a comment here.

Update: I got through to their phone number and heard the message that they are closed due to the fire and directing people to call later in the week when the phone service will be available. No report is given on the message about damage to the course.

Don’t be stubborn (and stupid)

It was reported on the news that many people in the area are refusing to evacuate their homes. Everyone, please be safe. Stuff is just stuff. Get your animals, hard drives, hard to replace documents, photos, mementos and golf clubs and just get out. Those embers are flying and it’s still really dangerous out there.

A word to the local news stations:

It sure would be nice if you could display an accurate map of the fire areas and where the firelines are. Last night I was watching the news and one of the stations showed an actual image of the fires with an overlaid map of the area. According to that map, I was on fire. If you’re going to do it (and you should), do it right!

Update: Here are a few more links posted by reader “ELY” in the comments section. I thought I’d put them here for easier access:
Ventura County Star’s Affected areas map
Ventura County Star’s Wind map
Ventura County Fire Department

Update: As of 7:00 AM this morning (December 5), the fire is 80% contained and the fire department expects full containment by 6:00 PM tonight.

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Pro Team Golf League update – interview

November 16, 2006 / / 3 Comments


Awhile back, I put up a post about the launch of the Pro Team Golf League. Perhaps naively, I thought it sounded like a great and novel idea. I have since learned that similar projects have been attempted in the past and failed to either have a solid business model or solid intentions.

I still think it sounds like a great idea and I hope it works. I have also discovered that I wasn’t the only person who found the concept to be slightly confusing. This confusion seems to stem from the fact that there is fan involvement. At first glance, some might think it’s a fantasy league. However, this is a league played by actual professional golfers. It crosses the fantasy line because the fans not only pick their teams but the choices they make for those teams are actually reflected in the game.

I wanted to know more about the concept and plans for this new golf league that I previously juxtaposed with baseball’s minor leagues or farm teams. I submitted some questions to the league and received some answers back from Tom Belton, General Counsel and Executive Committee Member for PTGL. They cleared up a few things for me. Here are his responses:

Golfchick: Who owns the current teams?

TB: A team owner is separate from the owners of PTGL. The owner could be a local business person with strong ties to the golf, travel or entertainment markets. The owner could be the foursome at the country club who loves the idea of team golf, or owning an affordable sports franchise. The owner could be the person who wants to be in the forefront of bringing a brand new form of sports entertainment to market. The owner could be a retired sports or entertainment celebrity. Owners are likely to be technology or sports geeks, or both. We know this because we happen to be in discussions with each of these interested groups.

[Golfchick note: good information, but that didn’t answer my question about the owners of the two existing teams that will be competing in the inaugural event. Tom, if you’re reading this, could you answer that in a comment on this post?]

Golfchick: What is an owner’s involvement?

TB: The owner has total control of the team. The owner negotiates and signs up the players from the Player Eligibility List provided by PTGL. The owner picks the home venue for matches. The owner negotiates and signs up local advertisers and sponsors. The owner connects with the fans and tries to drive more fans to his or her team. The owner makes the profit and shares with the league in its 60% revenue share and 10% profit pool. The owner truly owns a sports franchise.

Golfchick: Does the league pay the players or do the owners?

TB: The team owners have total control and responsibility here to compensate the team players subject to minimum compensation requirements established by PTGL. The League requires something beyond a base compensation to be paid to players to make sure the League also benefits players.

Golfchick: Do the players earn prize money in addition to a salary?

TB: Team owners are required to give players some financial upside either as a percentage of the purse or total team revenue or profit. The League guidelines suggest that 50% of the purse be distributed to players. We are also recommending that team owners set aside some equity for players just like a Wall Street business. We want players to be partners with team owners, not adversaries like in most sports franchises today.

Golfchick: What kind of recruitment efforts are being made to attract players?

TB: Mike Davis, an ex-PGA player and one of the most recognized golf instructors in the country, leads our player recruitment effort. It just so happens his son Brien is currently a player on the Canadian Tour and knows many of them already. We’ve had a 100% success rate in attracting mini-Tour players to sign up for the Player Eligibility List. We will continue to look for the best players out there. And we encourage player’s who participate in your blog who have an interest in competing to come to ptgl.com and apply for the Eligibility List.


Golfchick: Will the teams be limited in number or geographical area (e.g. only 8 teams the first year, expand to X number in the future, only one team per geographical region)?

TB: No, although the initial focus in the first 3 years will be in North America. One of the goals is to help US players develop match play skills. Some of these players will be future Ryder Cup players. We expect to have 24 teams in North America within 3 years but this is easily positioned for a much larger roll-out if there is fan demand for more.

Golfchick: How many players max per team?

TB: Team owners have flexibility here but generally a maximum of 12 with only 8 playing per week.

Golfchick: How does someone interested in being an owner put a team together?

TB: Dick Newbert is the PTGL Director of Team Develoopment. You can contact him through ptgl.com by clicking on the Team Development tab and sending an email with either a question or description of your interest in team ownership.

Golfchick: Will there be ladies’ teams or co-ed teams?

TB: We hope so. PTGL is open to the best professional golfers on the mini-Tours or the LPGA. We’d love to see an LPGA Team go against a team from one of the other Tours. How does that sound as a potential exciting rivalry? It also gives US women a chance to hone match play skills.

Golfchick: Does the PTGL have any television contracts yet?

TB: No, but The Golf Channel will televise our inaugural event — US v Canada in Jamaica. It will be played 12/13-12/16 and televised sometime in January. We expect to have a television contract in place before the League regular season launch in 2007. Our plans also include streaming video for matches over the internet.

Golfchick: Who are the major sponsors?

TB: The Canadian Professional Golf Tour and the Rose Hall Resort in Jamaica are our first sponsors. We are currently in negotiations with 2 large financial services industry leaders and some sports equipment companies for sponsorship.

Golfchick: Is every involved fan a ProCoach?

TB: Yes. Every fan who registers as ProCoach on ptgl.com can be as active a ProCoach as desired. The fan could lead blogs, message forums, and IM campaigns to discuss and lead team strategy. Or the fan could keep a low profile and quietly make selections. But the higher the fan’s Strat.EQ (success quotient), the more weight that fan gets in voting.

Golfchick: Does the system aggregate the decisions of the ProCoaches or is there a team leader?

TB: That’s up to the team and the fan. Other than the weighting factor above, every fan’s voice counts the same. But like in any community, some fans can actively take leadership roles. I’d listen to the fan with the highest EQ more than I’d listen to the fan with the lowest EQ.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, Tom.


I have been invited to participate in beta testing of the “Strat.e.golf” system, so if I have time, I’ll try it out and post my thoughts about it.

I’m interested to know what you all think about this league and its potential. Please feel free to comment or even ask more questions of the PTGL and I’ll try to get them to answer. For more information, check their website at www.ptgl.com.

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Punta Espada Grand Opening!

November 8, 2006 / / 2 Comments

Of the courses I’ve played, Punta Espada is my favorite by far. When I went, only the back nine were open. A couple months ago, they opened the front nine and they continued fine tuning the landscaping, clubhouse and amenities.


Today is their official Grand Opening with the presence of Jack Nicklaus himself. It will eventually be a completely private course, so play it while you have the chance!

To see my video of the back nine, look here.

For more information on this beautiful Jack Nicklaus course in the Dominican Republic, check out my previous post about it or the Punta Espada section of Cap Cana’s website.

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