Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Golf lobby urges Rubio to drop the Obama golfing jokes
September 18, 2012
Golf lobby urges Rubio to drop the Obama golfing jokes
“As we enter the final stretch of campaign season,” the group writes, “we write to make a request we hope you will receive in the same spirit in which it is offered. Please reconsider your political strategy of criticizing President Obama’s passion for golf.” (Emphasis theirs.)
The concerns apparently stem from Rubio’s speech during the GOP convention in
Monday, September 17, 2012
Teed-off Nevada man shoots golfer who broke his window: police
(Reuters) - An angry homeowner apparently had better aim than a
Jeff Fleming, 53, of
Fleming was taken into custody at a local attorney's office where he fled following the shooting,
Fleming was booked into the
Police say he opened fire at the 16th hole of
Authorities shut down and evacuated the course after the shooting. Witness accounts led officers to Fleming's residence, which they surrounded before he surrendered at the attorney's office.
A telephone message left for the general manager of the public golf course was not immediately returned on Friday.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
PHX Munis
The City of
The city owns a superb array of courses, playable and enjoyable for skilled players and duffers alike. But they are financially struggling.
The golf courses are supposed to be self-supporting. According to current city policy, green fees and other golf-related income should cover the cost of operating the courses without any assistance from the general taxpayer.
Until about a decade ago, that was the case. Now, it isn’t. The accumulated deficit in the golf fund is now $12.4 million. The annual deficit is around $2.5 million.
Part of this is because the city decided to use golf and the golf fund to achieve social policies.
The Palo Verde golf course used to be private. In the late 1990s, the owner wanted to develop it, which made the neighbors apoplectic. So, the city bought it and stuck the golf fund with the cost. It’s been a money-loser ever since.
About the same time, Aguila was built in the southwest part of the city. Aguila is a great layout – a desert golf experience without the target-golf frustrations of many such courses.
But there wasn’t really a demand for a golf course in that area. It was built as an amenity for an underserved part of the city. Again, the golf fund got stuck with the cost of what was really a social policy, rather than a golf, decision.
The purchase of Palo Verde and the development of Aguila were financed through bonds paid off by the golf fund. The cost of doing so explains much of the current deficit.
Still, there are some harsh realities about the golf business that can’t be blinked away. Play has declined as the number of golf courses in the Valley proliferated. At present, there is an excess of supply to demand.
Rounds played at
The city has appointed a committee to figure out what to do about it. One possibility examined by city staff is to close up to three courses – Palo Verde, Aguila and Maryvale.
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/RobertRobb/172026
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Girl Wonder of Golf
The Girl Wonder of Golf
By KAREN CROUSE
Published: September 12, 2012
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At 7, she competed in the New Zealand Women’s Amateur, an event she won seven years later, before her 14th birthday. At 12, she finished tied for seventh in a Ladies European Tour event won by Laura Davies, nearly 34 years her senior. In January she became, at 14, the youngest champion on the Australian L.P.G.A. Tour with a four-stroke victory at the New South Wales Open.
Last month Ko was crowned the United States Women’s Amateur champion and became the youngest winner of an L.P.G.A. event when she turned back a Canadian Women’s Open field that included 48 of the top 50 golfers. At 15 years, 4 months and 2 days, Ko was more than a year younger than the American Lexi Thompson when she won a tour event last September.
