What Tiger Woods Should Do Next?

After watching Tiger Woods’ press, err, prepared statement conference, on Friday, there’s little doubt his head is probably spinning with all the advice he’s been receiving lately. After all, the audience in that weird room with the blue curtain and wood lectern appeared to be full of corporate and sports rep types who probably had a hand in orchestrating the entire performance.

Up to this point, I’m convinced Tiger and his advisors have made nothing but bad moves in dealing with the biggest crisis in his life.  I strongly disagree with the current structured approach by him and his handlers, which seems like a desperate attempt to hang on to his crumbling corporate image. Let’s face it, too many corporate entities have a vested interest in returning Woods to his lofty perch among America’s most trusted athlete endorsers.

Once Woods matriculates from rehab, I suggest he turn his back on all the corporate hangers on and everybody else making money off of him. If I were Woods, I’d build an entirely new life that would enhance the possibility of solidifying his family life and build on his already regal golf legacy. Here’s my multi-step process I suggest for Mr. Woods:

Move to Sweden—The only way to keep the celebrity websites, newspapers and television shows away from your family and your personal life is to leave the premises. These people know how to hide in bushes and pay off bartenders and cocktail waitresses so Tiger will never have any sense of freedom here in the U.S. His kids will grow up in relative anonymity in Sweden and his wife will be near her family, which should help his marriage and be a minor payback for the turmoil she’s had to endure. Swedes are essentially private people who won’t invade your space and Stockholm is a cosmopolitan city of 2 million residents so it should be a nice easy going lifestyle, though he will need a couple of parkas during the winter. During the summer, daylight lasts till 10 p.m. so there’s lots of extra time to play with the kids and practice nine iron approach shots.

Dump all Endorsements Tomorrow—Get rid of all your endorsements and corporate agreements and start all over. Tiger won’t be beholden to anybody and he’ll have a sense of freedom. The only person he’ll have to answer to everyday is the person in the mirror. Instead of having a bunch of yes men who’re dependent on him for their next paycheck, he’ll control his own destiny and image.  Tiger needs to become his own man, not one beholden to Corporate America. Woods is the best golfer on the planet. He can make more than enough prize money to have a good life. Instead of doing obligatory corporate meetings and promotions, he can spend more time with his family and practicing golf. He should downscale like the rest of America and sell his real estate holdings, yacht and other toys. Instead of chasing money, he should put the emphasis back on developing a simpler more enjoyable life for his family and winning golf tournaments. Sucking up to corporations for endorsement dollars and doing silly television commercials is a fame and fortune trap he doesn't need anymore.

Play Golf Globally—To stay out of the limelight in the U.S. and to escape the tabloid media, play the world’s major tours in Europe, Australia and Asia. Woods is a great enough golfer that he can earn enough money to have a decidedly upscale lifestyle without having to play the PGA Tour and be constantly harassed by the press. With no endorsement contracts he won’t have to play a certain amount of events. Plus, his name still sells tickets and there will be more than a few tournaments offering large appearance fees.

Play Only the Majors in the U.S.—The only tournaments Woods should play in the U.S. are the four majors, which would still enable him to reach Jack Nicklaus’ record. If there’s one thing Woods wants to accomplish in his career, it’s Jack’s Major championship record. Just play the four big ones each year and be done with it. With the British Open, that would mean Woods would only have to play three tournaments a year in the U.S. The more he stays away from the tabloid websites, blogs, newspapers and television shows the better.

Become a Coach—With no corporate responsibilities and a limited PGA Tour schedule, Woods will have more than enough time to coach his kids’ sports teams. He can serve the same role to them as his father did to him. Tiger will quickly see it’s a more fulfilling role than that of a corporate shill and he’ll build a great relationship with his kids that will last a lot longer than any of the toys he can buy with his corporate bucks.

 

Five Ways To Attract more Golfers to Resorts

With a few golf resorts filing Chapter 11 and others singing the low occupancy and diminished rounds blues, I’d like to offer a few suggestions to help them once again hear that magic phrase “Cha-Ching”.

Here are five suggestions to get more golfers to visit your resort:

1. Stop with premiums on your headliner course and drop the price so you can introduce the course to others that have previously been shut out. I’ve played hundreds of golf courses around the world and with the exception of Pebble Beach, Shadow Creek and a few others, no course has an entertainment value worth more than $300. These days, if I have to choose between taking my wife out for a three or four hour dinner at a top restaurant or spending three or four hundred dollars on a five hour round of golf, I’ll choose the dinner. I love golf, but in this economy you’ve got to identify your priorities, or, better still, your wife’s priorities if she doesn’t play golf.
   
2. Let people walk and give them a discount if they do. For too long, resorts and other golf courses have gotten hooked on the easy money generated by cart fees. These resorts are like addicts that can’t stop renting carts.  Interestingly, some of the most successful golf resorts right now, places like Bandon Dunes Resort, allow walking. If people want to walk, let them.
   
3. Don’t charge kids under 17 if they’re playing with a paying adult. Too many resorts give lip service to junior golf and then sock it to them and their parents on greens and cart fees.
   
4. Treat your returning customers royally. Find out who’s still coming to your golf resort even in the bad times and put a gift in their cart (like extra sleeve of premium golf balls, towel, hat, etc) with a hand written note letting them know how much you appreciate their business.
   
5. Pull a Vegas. Attract golfers to your resort with extra low room rates, cheap breakfasts, big spa discounts and other attractive amenities. 

Zen Golf: Bel-Air Country Club

What does a golf-crazed traveler do when he can't get on Los Angeles Country Club (L.A.C.C.) and Riviera is closed for a tour event: play Bel-Air.

Bel-Air Country Club is not ranked in the top 100 courses that I am pursuing: nevertheless, it is one of the courses I most enjoy playing. Bel-Air was designed by George Thomas in 1925. Thomas designed the triumvirate of great courses in this area. Along with Bel-Air, he also designed L.A.C.C. and Riviera. Revisions to the course have been made by Dick Wilson, George Fazio and Robert Trent Jones over the years. As a result, Bel-Air doesn't get the accolades these other two courses get, primarily because some of the changes weren't in keeping with Thomas's original design. As I understand it, most of the changes were cosmetic and the bunkers were tampered with. I'm sure Thomas's original bunkers were better than some of those that are there today; however, I think these criticisms are given too much weight. After all, the core part of what Thomas did is still intact: the routing. And it is a spectacular, world-class routing. Riviera is laid out basically in one large canyon, while L.A.C.C. is routed over rolling and open terrain. Bel-Air is routed through four different canyons and weaves its way in and out of them masterfully.

Bel-Air is one of the most interesting courses in the world to walk because of all the little quirks required to transport you from canyon to canyon. These include having to walk through four tunnels and over one bridge in addition to taking an elevator from the middle of one of the tunnels.

The course starts with one of the most dramatic first tees in the game. It is perched on the top of a hill overlooking U.C.L.A. and the Westwood section of Los Angeles. Set in the canyon below is a short 491 yard par five that is a great starting hole and in keeping with Thomas's design philosophy of a relatively easy starting hole.

Bel-Air's dramatic first hole at sunrise overlooking U.C.L.A. and Westwood

You have to navigate a stream about 80 yards short of the elevated green on your approach to the first of many interesting greens. See the beautiful bunkering that Thomas was known for:

Approach to the first green

Bel-Air feels like a zen garden. After having played golf in Japan, Bel-Air reminds me at times of both Hirono and Naruo. Not so much the routing or the design, but the overall environment: the manicuring of the course, the structure and beauty of the trees and the overall harmony of the place. It feels picture perfect. Of course it helps that every day of the year is 70 degrees with no humidity and that the light in L.A. is beautiful. The mature trees look like sculptures: there are manicured cedar, ficus and huge sycamores with white bark. The west side of Los Angeles is like no other place in America. The amount of wealth in Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, Century City, Holmby Hills, Westwood, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and the other neighborhoods is stunning. Bel-Air is the epicenter of this La-La Land. Members here lead a charmed life.

Tree on the fourth tee box

Part of the reason the place has such a manicured feel is that the houses around the course are some of the finest in Southern California and are maintained perfectly. Ronald Reagan used to have a house along the course as did Conrad Hilton and Alfred Hitchcock. The names of movie stars and wealthy people who currently live here or used to is too long to list; suffice it to say, it's an impressive group. L.A.C.C. might have the Playboy Mansion, but Bel-Air has the palatial home of the owner of the Girls Gone Wild franchise, Joseph R. Francis. Although, let's not confuse wealth with good taste here. Bobby Jones also shot some of his instructional videos at Bel-Air including the one with W.C. Fields.

In addition to the first hole, I particularly liked the sixth and seventh holes. The first five holes at Bel-Air are routed through one large canyon. After finishing the fifth, you walk through a long narrow tunnel and emerge to play the sixth which is a 377 yard uphill par four with a difficult to hit, well-protected green. The seventh, 391 yards, runs parallel to the sixth but plays down the canyon. Both use the slopes of the hillsides to great affect. The well-bunkered green on the seventh is seen below with the mature hedges behind it:

The seventh green sits below the fairway on this downhill hole

The eighth hole is a 482 yard par five that plays downhill to a green that is protected by water in front and on the left. Your tee shot on the eighth is lined up along the women's dormitory at U.C.L.A. seen in the distance on the right. Note the canting in the fairway.

View from the 8th tee box

After finishing the front nine you walk into another tunnel and then mid-way through the tunnel take an elevator up to the clubhouse. The tenth is one of the most interesting and dramatic par threes in the game, and it requires a heroic shot. When the course was being designed Thomas and his collaborators were trying to decide whether a shot could be hit over the 150 yard chasm. Billy Bell, who was helping Thomas, found the only club that was available when they were there and attempted to hit a ball across. This guy had talent. He hit a putter across and thus was born one of the world's great par threes. An interesting tidbit about Thomas is that he never accepted any money for designing some of the best golf courses in the world; he did it purely as a recreational pursuit.

The par three 10th hole

The tenth hole is 200 yards long and it plays longer because you hit uphill. You have to carry the large canyon ravine and avoid the treacherous greenside bunkers. George Peper's The World's 500 Greatest Golf Holes ranks the tenth hole in its top 100. Holes fourteen and seventeen also make his top 500 list. According to Geoff Shackelford's biography of Thomas, The Captain, this hole originally had a punchbowl type green; today it is a two-tiered green.

The walk from tee to green on the tenth is one of the best in the game as well, over the iconic white swinging bridge. It's a miniature suspension bridge and it bounces up and down and moves a little when you walk on it.

The iconic swinging bridge at Bel-Air

The walk from the 10th to the 11th hole is through another tunnel.

The tunnel from the 10th green to the 11th tee

The eleventh is a 392 yard par four that plays down the hill and dog-legs to the left. It's a classic risk/reward tee shot that rewards a daring shot to the left cutting off the corner. You can see how Thomas routed the course to take full advantage of the canyons and the changes in elevation.

View from the 11th tee box looking down into the narrow canyon

The beauty of the bunkering is seen below on the approach to the 584 yard par five fourteenth hole. Howard Hughes landed his plane on this fairway to catch up with Katharine Hepburn for a game of golf.

Approach to the par five 14th

The back nine at Bel-Air is the harder of the two due to a stream that snakes through and because the hills are steeper. The greens at Bel-Air are lightning quick and in perfect condition. The course is not particularly long at 6,523 yards from the blue tees, but at a par of 70, is a very good test of golf.

I can't think of a weak stretch of holes on the course and the finish is particularly strong. Both Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan called the seventeenth one of their favovite par fours. The hole doglegs right and slopes right and the sloping fairway sends balls into the rough. Missing the green on your second shot yields a terrible penalty.

One of the most interesting pictures I've taken in my travels is below. It was shot from the middle of the swinging bridge and is a birds-eye view of the oblong kidney-shaped eighteenth green. The eighteenth is a 414 yard par four that plays back up the hill through a canyon toward the clubhouse.

The 18th green as seen from above from the swinging bridge

Bel-Air is not a lesser course then either L.A.C.C. or Riviera and deserves a visit in its own rite. If you get invited, don't wear shorts. It is one of only a handful of courses left in the States where you must wear long pants. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I'm living the dream out here!

W Hollywood

During my stay in Los Angeles a new W Hotel was opening, which is where I stayed. Cool and hip, I'm not. I could see them looking at me when I checked in. "Pops looks confused and disoriented," the trendy gal said to herself when I walked in. At a W, it doesn't so much feel like you're checking in as a paying customer. Instead, it feels like trying to gain admission to a hip night club. Anyway, I made it from the red carpet through the ropes.

Staying here required that I learn a whole new vocabulary, none of which made sense to me, but which I will explain to my readers as a public service in case you ever stay at one. The W doesn't have rooms, it has 'wonderful studios', 'spectacular suites' and 'fabulous suites'. Larger rooms include not just a 'wow suite' but also an 'extreme wow suite'. Names like this must make a Valley Girl get all warm and fuzzy at the W.

I had a difficult time re-learning the alphabet. You don't hang a sign on your door that says 'Do Not Disturb'. Instead it says 'When? - Not Now'. It doesn't make any sense. I wanted to work out and looked through the little booklet in my room to see what floor the gym was on. After looking through the book under 'Health Club', 'Gym' and 'Exercise Room' I gave up and went down to the lobby. I had to actually go to the lobby, or should I say 'Living Room', because I couldn't figure out how to dial the operator. Turns out, it's listed on the phone as 'Whatever, Whenever'. Silly me, I should have figured it out. Anyway, the gym is called 'Sweat'. How could I not know that?!

The W Hollywood has three features that make it uniquely L.A. Two floors of the hotel are outfitted with suites that accommodate press junkets with extra large bathrooms to accommodate hair and make-up crews. The spa offers detox services, and, best of all, on the top floor they built a 'bachelor suite' featuring a small raised area that includes a stripper pole. The suite didn't pass muster with the city because it wasn't handicap accessible and they had to take it out. Now it all makes sense to me.

I love L.A.

My State of the Golf Travel Business Address

My fellow golf travelers, why lie? The golf travel business is in the dumper. Occupancy is down. Rounds played are down. Revenues are down…

What is extremely troubling to me is the decline of the corporate market, which is such a large part of golf travel revenues. I write frequently for the corporate and incentive market and all I hear is nothing but gloom and doom. Corporations are now afraid of the golf course, so to speak. Afraid they’ll be labeled as wasteful and uncaring spenders during tough economic times. From the AIG fiasco last year at a golf and spa resort in California to President Obama lambasting destinations like Las Vegas, the corporate market is taking more hits than Rocky Balboa. Incidentally, that resort AIG had booked, the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort, was foreclosed upon by one of its lenders.

How bad is it?

Some resort operators are so scared of the perception problem that they’re dropping the word “resort” from their names. Among those who’ve dropped that oh so perceptively bad “resort” from their official names are Westin Stonebriar Hotel in Dallas, Loews Lake Las Vegas, Loews Ventana Canyon in Tucson, Loews Coronado Bay and Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Everybody is paranoid these days. Now, event planners have to worry about arranging too good of a time for their clients. This is loony.

Adding to all the negative vibes corporations are experiencing with meeting and conventions are increased airline baggage fees, fewer flights, airport security hassles and a general malaise that the economy is not improving and you better horde a few bucks.

Wake me up, when this nightmare is over.

 

Tiger's First Tournament Back

The speculation about Tiger Woods returning to the PGA Tour has ramped up the last couple of days and it got me thinking about what will be different when he tees it up again.  Here are a few thoughts:

• Rest assured, Woods will be on his best off-the-course behavior. He’ll be so squeaky clean he’ll make Tim Tebow look like a party hound.
  
• Don’t expect any major mea culpa or press conference where Tigers spills his guts. It’s just not his style.  How about a staged, well orchestrated event where Woods is in control with no reporter's questions? Woods is all about “scoreboard”.
  
• While some players have lost respect for Tiger as a husband and a father, I guarantee they still regard him as the best golfer in the world. Woods has been playing the game since he was two years old. I don’t care how long he stays out, he won’t forget how to play and he won’t forget how to win.
  
• Get ready for the tabloid press to be lurking behind bushes and in trees everywhere. Forget about Lindsey Lohan and Lady Ga Ga, Tiger Woods is, arguably, the biggest celebrity in the world and there will be an army of paparazzi at the first few tournaments following Tiger’s return. After all, don’t we all need something new? How many times can we see that photo of Elin Woods coming out of the Thai restaurant in Orlando?
  
• I look for the golf media to be a little more daring in their questioning, but I’m not holding my breath. Even an image injured Tiger is imposing and intimidating.
  
• I predict golf television analysts will play up the big comeback from sex clinic story. The American public absolutely loves stories of redemption and if they bought it from Kobe Bryant and Bill Clinton, they’ll surely buy it from Tiger Woods.
  
• To be honest, I can’t wait till Tiger’s first tournament back. The sports world has never seen anything like this before. With the exception of Ali’s return to the ring, I can’t recall an event that had more anticipation surrounding it.
  
• I hope the best for Tiger Woods and I’m cheering for his redemption. I believe he’s a good person who made some absolutely horrific life choices.  But, if Russell Brand and David Duchovny can make it back from sex addiction, I guess Tiger can too.
  

Golf Musings

IS TIGER IN ARIZONA?

Tiger Woods might not be in Mississippi. Despite the tabloid reports that Woods is in a sex clinic in Hattiesburg, I’ve heard several rumors to the contrary. At the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando I talked with a couple of well-connected types who told me Woods has been in a clinic in Arizona since the beginning of the year. Apparently, the photo of the guy in a hoodie and baseball cap in Mississippi that was captured by the tabloids was just a plant to throw everybody off. It makes sense in a way. Woods and his handlers had to know there were telephoto lenses pointed into the Mississippi sex clinic compound, so they sent a look-alike out for a stroll with a cup of coffee. They’ve been very coy in hiding Tiger so far, so why would they march him around the grounds for an easy photo? When this thing plays out, it’ll be interesting to see where Tiger has been the past 90 days or so.

TIGER’S REALLY NOT PLAYING THE ACCENTURE, IS HE?

The latest report by an Australian newspaper that Tiger will play in the upcoming Accenture sponsored WGC event in Arizona is a curious one. If believed, that means Tiger will compete in an event where he will reward a sponsor for dumping on him. Just from a business perspective, I don’t see Tiger competing in this event. Furthermore, unless he’s been sneaking out for some sort of midnight rate at a lighted golf course, I’m not sure if he’s tuned up to play.

AMAZING NEW GOLF PRODUCTS

I’m always amazed at the wild and wacky products I see at the PGA Merchandise Show every year.  My nominees for, shall we say, most unusual 2010 products I saw are:

The Golf Flip Flop- Billed as the world’s first golf flip flop, the company called Golf Gators says in their promotional material that the “Spackler” offers golfers “ease, style and laid-back swagger”. Hey, we can all use a little swag on the links, but I’m not sure if I’ll rely on the flip-flops to do it for me. If you think differently and want to check them out, go to http://www.golfgators.com

Eiffel Tower Golf Tees—The originators of this product essentially turned the Eiffel Tower upside down and claim it makes the perfect tee. It’s made of some sort of plastic composite and is available in four colors. If you want to go ooh-la-la after every tee shot, go to http://www.vanitee.fr

Welded Golf Sculptures—Jeff Diamond, an innovative artist, takes old golf clubs and recycles them into unusual sculptures. They’re very different and certainly are conversation pieces.  For more information, you can reach Mr. Diamond at 561-379-9367.

Is Phil Mickelson a Cheater?

Phil Mickelson has long been rumored to be one of the least popular players amongst his peers on the PGA Tour. But now his popularity is dipping to new lows over his use of 20-year-old Ping Eye2 square-groove wedges that sidestep the new groove rule. "I don't like it at all, not one bit," Rocco Mediate said. "It's against the spirit of the rule...We have to get rid of those clubs, because they're square grooves - what else can you say?" According to Scott McCarron, "It's cheating, and I'm appalled Phil has put it in play."

Readers of this blog know that I'm no fan of Phil, but in this case I believe that he's getting unfairly crucified. In my opinion, it's perfectly fine to play golf with anything that the USGA deems to be legal. Heck, if the Iron Byron was legal, I'd be the first to use one. Since all square-groove Ping Eye 2 irons manufactured before April 1, 1990 are legal, Phil didn't do anything wrong by putting them in the bag. The USGA agrees. "The clubs are usable where USGA rules apply," said Dick Rugge, the USGA's senior technical director. "The rules speak for themselves and show it's not cheating to use them."

So the critics of Phil need to back down. He's certainly not cheating. If people have any beef, they should redirect their rage at golf's governing bodies. But more interestingly, I think that this controversy sheds light on other issues. For instance, what does all this say about golf club technology? The message I get is that 20-year-old technology is better than that of today. I've long believed that iron performance improvement through technology is limited and this is further validation. My conviction was so strong that I put a set of Mizuno MP-14s in my bag about a year ago. These irons are about 18-years-old and play just as well as my much newer Nike Blades. I'd hate to work in the marketing department at any golf club company when consumers watch that the pros are opting for clubs made two decades ago!

Golf Travel Trends 2010

ASIA BECKONS

While Scotland will always be a favorite international golf destination for Americans, there are a number of destinations vying for American golfer business. Foremost among the international competitors are China and Thailand. Both of these countries continue to build golf courses and resorts that appeal to American tastes. Not surprisingly, the Asia-Pacific region has overtaken North America as the world’s largest travel market with 647 million passengers in 2009, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In early May, the first Southeast Asia/India Golf Merchandise Exposition in Bangkok, modeled after the PGA Merchandise Show in the U.S., will debut.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY RESORT?

Back in 2008, AIG, which received $180 million in taxpayer assistance, was exposed for planning a high-end sales retreat at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, California. That debacle set the stage for criticisms from government officials and others about luxury conferences. Suddenly, and wrongfully I might add, the word “resort” became a bad name, one that implied needless and opulent spending for business groups. The result is some properties are dropping the word “resort” from their official name. Among those who changed their name are Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge in Charlotte, North Carolina, Loews Lake Las Vegas, Loews Ventana Canyon in Tucson, Arizona, Loews Coronado Bay near San Diego and Westin Stonebriar Hotel in Dallas.

FEWER NEW DOMESTIC COURSES

Golf course construction is flat in the United States. With the exception of a few courses that debuted last year, the Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort in Indiana and the Waldorf Astoria Golf Club in Orlando come to mind, there aren’t going to be a lot of new resort layouts to play this year. One worth waiting for is the fourth course at Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon, the Old Macdonald, which is scheduled to open in June.

FRANCE, YES

France is quickly making its mark as a top golf destination in continental Europe. Several of its courses consistently make it into Top 10 lists, including Morfontaine, Les Bordes, Chantilly (Vineuil) and Golf National (L’Albatros).

WHAT THE EXPERTS THINK

The International Association of Golf Travel Operators (IAGTO) recently announced its 2010 rewards. The envelope, please: Undiscovered Golf Destination of the Year: BRAZIL; Golf Destination of the Year-Asia & Australasia: THAILAND; Golf Destination of the Year-Europe: PROVENCE & COTE D’AZUR; Golf Destination of the Year-North America: ORLANDO; Golf Resort of the Year-Europe: DOONBEG, IRELAND; Golf Resort of the Year-North America: KIAWAH ISLAND GOLF RESORT, SOUTH CAROLINA; Golf Resort of the Year-Rest of the World: RAFFLES CANOUAN, THE GRENADINES.