Advertise • Subscribe • Contact

The Business of Golf

Blog

Tewell Out Indefinitely With Elbow Injury

Champions Tour player Doug Tewell will be off the tour indefinitely due to acute pain in his left elbow. The eight-time Champions Tour winner began experiencing pain in the elbow during the final round of the Allianz Championship, Feb. 11, and then was forced to withdraw from the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am last week following his pro-am round and from this week’s ACE Group Classic.

Golf Writers Association of America

The Golf Writers Association of America announces the winners of its 2006 writing contest. Sports Illustrated’s Rick Reilly picked up the fifth first-place award of his career, while Golf Digest Companies dominated the Non-Daily categories.

Henderson named executive director of the LPGA T&CP

The LPGA names Nancy Henderson to the newly-created position of executive director of the LPGA Teaching & Club Professionals. Henderson, a Class A member of the LPGA T&CP and the PGA of America, will assume the role on March 7.

Power Performance Rankings

Tom Watson, winner of last week’s Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am, moved back into the top 10 of the Power Peformance Rankings for the Champions Tour. Watson is 10th, while Loren Roberts, Jay Haas and Fred Funk are Nos. 1-3, respectively.

BRIEFLY

Billy Fuller Golf Design announces the opening of its new design firm in Atlanta, Ga. The company is headed by Billy Fuller, a former Augusta National Golf Club golf course superintendent and design associate with Bob Cupp. … The Polo Club of Boca Raton in Boca Raton, Fla., re-opens its second 18 holes, the Equestrian Course. … SMT reports that three of the top four finishers in the long drive contest at the Nationwide and Australasian tour’s Jacobs Creek Open. … Fairway & Greene reports that its ladies’ business grew 28 percent in 2006, which now represents 12 percent of the company’s overall volume. … Winning Edge Designs signs Bob Davis and Alan Braden as sales reps for its southern California area, and Gary Martin for its northern California area. … The Georgia Golf Hall of Fame announces that Bryan Persons of Macon, has been elected as the chairman of the board. … Four Golf Channel Amateur Tour events in 2007 will serve as "Big Break VIII" qualifying tournaments. The winners will receive a private audition with the producers of the golf reality show. The sites of the four events are: The Heritage Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga. (March 24-25); LPGA International Golf Club in Daytona, Fla., (March 31-April 1); Blackhorse Golf Club and Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas (April 14-15); and Whisper Creek Golf Club in Huntley, Ill. (April 14-15). Also, the network’s "Golf Central Primetime" will air a feature a report on an U.S. Army range in Baghad, Iraq, that has received more than 10,000 golf balls after an officer’s request was posted on the channel’s Web site. The show airs Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET. … The Spirit of Golf Foundation presents its first Eddie Merrins Award to R. Scott Jackson, the boys golf coach at Merritt Island High in Merritt Island, Fla. The SGF’s Spirit Award was presented to Donna Lee of Singapore. The Merrins Award is given to the SGF certified coach who most closely aligns their professional and personal attributes to the guidelines Merrins has lived by. The Spirit Award is an annual award given a scholastic administrator, community youth leader or patron or corporate supporter of SGF.

Henderson named executive director of the LPGA T&CP

The LPGA names Nancy Henderson to the newly-created position of executive director of the LPGA Teaching & Club Professionals. Henderson, a Class A member of the LPGA T&CP and the PGA of America, will assume the role on March 7.

Champ goes 1-2 at Nissan Open

Champ Spikes reports that the winner of the Nissan Open wore its Scorpion Stinger spikes, while the playoff runner-up wore Champ’s Cermec steel spike.

PGA Tour players line up for ReelFit

FootJoy announces that several players on the PGA Tour have worn its innovative new ReelFit shoes, including Adam Scott, Davis Love III, David Toms, J.B. Holmes, Scott Verplank and Arron Oberholser.