Hitachi Ltd. signs a sponsorship agreement with Ryuji Imada. Hitachi will sponsor Imada through December 2010, and will conduct promotional activities featuring him. … Terry Jo Myers, an LPGA Tour professional and three-time tour winner, will join the teaching staff of the Mike Calbot International Golf Studio and Triad Golf Schools located at Old Corkscrew Golf Club in Estero, Fla. … Paula Creamer played the 4 Yards More golf tee en route to winning the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. Creamer also went wire-to-wire for her fourth win playing the Precept Pink Lady iQ 180 golf ball. … Turner Sports will present 28 hours of television coverage of the 137th British Open on TNT, while PGA.com offers unprecedented online video coverage live from the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. The Open Championship LIVE video player will broadcast live feeds directly from the tournament during the first two days of play on July 17-18. TNT’s coverage begins Thursday, July 17, at 6:30 a.m. ET/PT with a preview show, followed by exclusive live coverage of the first round. … Butterfield Country Club in Oakbrook, Ill., hires golf course architect Steve Smyers to prevent future flooding and restore the William Langford 1922 design. … Kenny Perry solidified his fourth-place position on the U.S. Ryder Cup point standings with his win at the John Deere Classic. Perry now has 4,382.350 points is has virtually sealed his spot on the team. … SkyCaddie GPS will be used by BBC commentators at the 137th Open Championship to tell viewers how far golfers have driven the ball and how far they have to greens and hazards. … The editors at Links Magazine and the course architects at Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates award college student Doug Wright top prize in the publication’s first amateur course design contest. Wright, 20, is a civil engineering undergraduate at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. … The Golf Consultants Association announces the first date of its GCA Roadshow – Thursday, July 31 at Five Lakes Hotel, Golf, Country Club and Spa near Colchester, Essex.
The European PGA adds the PowerPlay Golf Championship to its 2008 schedule. The championship features a new nine-hole format featuring two flags on every green. In PowerPlay Golf, double Stableford points are awarded for birdies or better to the more difficult black “PowerPlay” flags. Golfers must take exactly three PowerPlays during their first eight holes, with an optional PowerPlay at greater risk on the final hole. … Crown Golf teams with the European PGA to create the Crown Golf English PGA Assistants’ Championship.
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