If you thought Disney’s feature film “The Greatest Game Ever Played” was all fiction, then you may be surprised to know that you can see Francis Ouimet’s golf clubs, golf ball, and scorecard used in his stunning victory at the 1913 U.S. Open June 3 when the USGA unveils the new Palmer Center in the totally renovated and expanded USGA museum on the grounds of USGA Headquarters in Far Hills, New Jersey.
Under construction for nearly 3 years the new center updates what was the first museum in the U.S. dedicated entirely to a sport-- a venue older than even the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
The new museum houses over 40,000 artifacts and memorabilia, 500,000 photographic images, plus thousands of hours of historic film, video, and audio recordings. Together, the museum's collections present a comprehensive history of the game's development in the United States over the course of nearly 250 years.
Oimet’s treasures are among more than 2,000 golf artifacts that will be on public display, many for the first time. The centerpiece of the expanded museum is a gallery that celebrates the life and career of Arnold Palmer. The Palmer Room showcases more than 100 items from Palmer’s personal collection arranged as an exploration of his career both on and off the golf course.
At the center of the Palmer Room is a remarkable portrait created by James David Chase, and composed of more than 22,000 words to create an image of Palmer An interactive kiosk enables visitors to explore the portrait in detail.
For more information about the USGA and Opening Day events, click here.
(Ivan this links to USGA site. See MGL Homepage)
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Tiger and Lorena Keep Rolling
Just a month or two into the 2008 golf season and already Tiger Woods and Lorena Ochoa have demonstrated that their extraordinary performances from 2007 may have been nothing more than previews of coming attractions.
From his dramatic winning putt on the 72nd hole of the Arnold Palmer Invitational to Ochoa’s 11 shot runaway victory in Singapore and 7 shot win in Arizona in her first two Spring 2008 outings, these two phenomenon have created an excitement and heightened interest in the game of gold that has not been seen for two generations. For those of you who are not enough, that’s since Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer dueled what seemed every week over thirty years ago.
Perhaps the most unusual aspect of how Tiger and Lorena perform so well week to week is their resilience in the face of the level of ‘noise’ around such athletes today. There is more media coverage and outlets, driven by more technology, plus longer tougher courses, and more tournaments, period.
Maintaining the level of play required to win so many times in any season, never mind in back-to-back seasons, makes their accomplishments all the more special. Add to this their personal schedules and endorsement commitments and the dominance factor becomes astounding. As enthusiasts for the sport, we get to watch, be entertained and enjoy. And, that’s special to.
From his dramatic winning putt on the 72nd hole of the Arnold Palmer Invitational to Ochoa’s 11 shot runaway victory in Singapore and 7 shot win in Arizona in her first two Spring 2008 outings, these two phenomenon have created an excitement and heightened interest in the game of gold that has not been seen for two generations. For those of you who are not enough, that’s since Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer dueled what seemed every week over thirty years ago.
Perhaps the most unusual aspect of how Tiger and Lorena perform so well week to week is their resilience in the face of the level of ‘noise’ around such athletes today. There is more media coverage and outlets, driven by more technology, plus longer tougher courses, and more tournaments, period.
Maintaining the level of play required to win so many times in any season, never mind in back-to-back seasons, makes their accomplishments all the more special. Add to this their personal schedules and endorsement commitments and the dominance factor becomes astounding. As enthusiasts for the sport, we get to watch, be entertained and enjoy. And, that’s special to.
Friday, January 11, 2008
USGA issues new Rules of Golf changes
The USGA has published the first comprehensive changes to the Rules of Golf in 4 years. The changes to the Rules generally fall into two broad categories: “(1) those that improve the clarity of the Rules and (2) those that reduce the penalties in certain circumstances to ensure that they are proportionate…”
Most of the rules changes are minor word tweaks, but we found a few of them to be significant and address some common questions that players have while out on a course. Here are some examples:
A ball is deemed “lost’’ if:
“a. It is not found or identified as his by the player within five minutes after the player’s side or his or their caddies have begun to search for it; or
"b. The player has made a stroke at a provisional ball from the place where the original ball is likely to be or from a point nearer the hole than that place; or
"c. The player has put another ball into play under penalty of stroke and distance (see Rule 27-1a); or
"d. The player has put another ball into play because it is known or virtually certain that the ball, which has not been found, has been moved by an outside agency (see
Rule 18-1), is in an obstruction (see Rule 24-3), is in an abnormal ground condition (see Rule 25-1c) or is in a water hazard (see Rule 26-1); or
"e. The player has made a stroke at a substituted ball.”
Here is another rule we've had a lot of discussion about on the course:
“If a ball lying in or on an obstruction or in an abnormal ground condition is accidentally moved during search, there is no penalty…”
“If a player has reason to believe a ball at rest is his and it is necessary to lift the ball in order to identify it, he may lift it. If the ball is the player’s ball and he lifts his ball in order to identify it when not necessary to do so, he incurs a penalty
of one stroke…”
And the many changes that have been made to equipment in the last 4 years are also dealt with in some of the Rule changes, including what a player may carry in his bag during tournament play, and identification requirements for new drivers. For example, a Tournament Committee “may require, in the conditions of a competition (Rule 33-1), that any driver the player carries must have a clubhead, identified by model and loft, that is named on
the current List of Conforming Driver Heads issued by the USGA.”
The USGA, in conjunction with the R&A in St. Andrews, Scotland, writes, interprets and maintains the Rules of Golf to guard the tradition and integrity of the game. The two organizations are joint authors and owners of The Rules of Golf and Decisions on the Rules of Golf. Through an agreement with the R&A, the Rules jurisdiction of the USGA includes only the United States, its possessions and Mexico. The latest version went into effect Jan. 1, 2004, with the next revision taking effect Jan. 1, 2008.
For a complete look at the Rules changes, or to purchase a copy of the Rules, visit the USGA web site at:
http://www.usga.org/playing/rules/pdf/2008Principal_Changes.pdf
Most of the rules changes are minor word tweaks, but we found a few of them to be significant and address some common questions that players have while out on a course. Here are some examples:
A ball is deemed “lost’’ if:
“a. It is not found or identified as his by the player within five minutes after the player’s side or his or their caddies have begun to search for it; or
"b. The player has made a stroke at a provisional ball from the place where the original ball is likely to be or from a point nearer the hole than that place; or
"c. The player has put another ball into play under penalty of stroke and distance (see Rule 27-1a); or
"d. The player has put another ball into play because it is known or virtually certain that the ball, which has not been found, has been moved by an outside agency (see
Rule 18-1), is in an obstruction (see Rule 24-3), is in an abnormal ground condition (see Rule 25-1c) or is in a water hazard (see Rule 26-1); or
"e. The player has made a stroke at a substituted ball.”
Here is another rule we've had a lot of discussion about on the course:
“If a ball lying in or on an obstruction or in an abnormal ground condition is accidentally moved during search, there is no penalty…”
“If a player has reason to believe a ball at rest is his and it is necessary to lift the ball in order to identify it, he may lift it. If the ball is the player’s ball and he lifts his ball in order to identify it when not necessary to do so, he incurs a penalty
of one stroke…”
And the many changes that have been made to equipment in the last 4 years are also dealt with in some of the Rule changes, including what a player may carry in his bag during tournament play, and identification requirements for new drivers. For example, a Tournament Committee “may require, in the conditions of a competition (Rule 33-1), that any driver the player carries must have a clubhead, identified by model and loft, that is named on
the current List of Conforming Driver Heads issued by the USGA.”
The USGA, in conjunction with the R&A in St. Andrews, Scotland, writes, interprets and maintains the Rules of Golf to guard the tradition and integrity of the game. The two organizations are joint authors and owners of The Rules of Golf and Decisions on the Rules of Golf. Through an agreement with the R&A, the Rules jurisdiction of the USGA includes only the United States, its possessions and Mexico. The latest version went into effect Jan. 1, 2004, with the next revision taking effect Jan. 1, 2008.
For a complete look at the Rules changes, or to purchase a copy of the Rules, visit the USGA web site at:
http://www.usga.org/playing/rules/pdf/2008Principal_Changes.pdf
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