In the News

The partners responsible for putting on the annual golf industry show have announced that the event will be held in Las Vegas in 2012.

The dates of the show will be Wednesday, Feb. 29, and Thursday, March 1, while presenting partners the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Education Conference and the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) Education Conference will be conducted Feb. 27-28 and March 2.

Central Florida's Winter Park Country Club will welcome five-time PGA Tour winner Ken Green as part of its Golf Lecture Series presented by the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. The appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 11.

In June 2009, Green was seriously injured in a grizzly motor vehicle accident that claimed the lives of his brother William, his girlfriend Jeanne Hodgin, and his German Shepherd Nip.

The 17th hole of the Old Course will be lengthened ahead of the 150th Anniversary of The Open Championship at St Andrews. The 'Road Hole', which has remained the same length for more than 100 years, will increase in length by some 35 yards to 490 yards. A new Championship tee will be constructed on the practice range of St Andrews Links Trust.

It has long been suggested that the 17th hole would benefit from additional length to restore the original challenge of the hole. In advance of the 1964 St Andrews Open, three-time Open Champion, Henry Cotton, recommended the alteration stating: "I would make a tee just beyond the railway line on the other course [he was referring to the Eden Course which is now the practice range]. It would restore this drive to its former value."

NEW YORK -- The Women's Sports Foundation and the ANNIKA Foundation have teamed up to create the ANNIKA Inspiration Award to honor exceptional young female athletes. The national award, the ANNIKA Inspiration Award presented by the Women's Sports Foundation and the ANNIKA Foundation, will be given to a young woman who has been inspired by someone in her life and who now excels in her sport while demonstrating leadership qualities, taking time to give back to her community or sport, and, in turn, serving as an inspiration to others.

"I credit much of the success in my career to my father's inspirational words, 'There are no shortcuts to success,'" said Annika Sorenstam, founder of the ANNIKA Foundation. "Knowing how impactful one person can be, I am honored to be a part of the recognition of amazing young women who continually inspire and encourage those around them."

ORLANDO - Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Lucas Glover and Vijay Singh have all won majors championships, and each has also experienced victory at the Children's Miracle Network Classic held annually at Walt Disney World Resort.

The Classic is played on the Magnolia Course at Walt Disney World Resort, which will serve as the setting for the 12th installment of the Golf Channel's popular Big Break reality series. The show will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST.

BEAVERTON, Ore. - The new Nike Golf Method putter that has generated so much buzz and curiosity, particularly after having been used to win two major championship titles this summer, will be made available to consumers online in limited quantities beginning at 12:01 p.m. EST on Monday, Nov. 2, 2009.

Consumers will be able to get a customized and personalized version of the winning Nike Method putter in their hands before its official launch on Feb. 1, 2010, by being among the first limited number to order online at www.nikestore.com starting on Nov. 2 until Nov. 30, 2009 (or while the limited quantities are in stock). 

Adidas Launches New Shoe at Shriners' Vegas Tour Stop

adidas Golf is debuting its newest and most stable golf shoe to date, the TOUR360 4.0, in Las Vegas at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open Oct. 12-18, 2009.

The revolutionary new shoe, which is the first to incorporate adidas Golf's Advanced THiNTech low-profile technology, brings golfers lower to the ground for improved overall balance, weight transfer, stability, power and consistency. The new adidas Golf shoe will launch exclusively in Las Vegas with availability in other markets soon after.   

The record books were rewritten at the 33rd Callaway Golf PGA Assistant Championship, as Tim Thelen of New Ulm, Texas, fired a final round 4-under-par 68 for a 265 total. PGA apprentice Sean Dougherty of Overland Park, Kan., finished in second place.

Thelen broke the 72-hole Championship scoring record of 270, which was previously held by Kyle Finton of Edmond, Okla., by five strokes. Finton set the mark in 2003.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - After an absence of more than a century, golf will return as an Olympic sport in 2016 and 2020 along with rugby sevens following their approval by the International Olympic Committee membership during the IOC’s 121st Session.

They will be part of the Olympic Program in Rio de Janeiro, which last week was selected as the host city for the 2016 Games by the IOC. Golf was last an Olympic sport at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Mo., when the United States and Canada were the only two competing countries.

The International Golf Federation has announced that professional golfers Padraig Harrington of Ireland, Suzann Pettersen of Norway and Michelle Wie of the United States, as well as 16-year-old (British) Amateur Champion Matteo Manassero of Italy, will participate in the final presentation before the International Olympic Committee membership on Friday, Oct. 9 during the IOC's 121st Session.

The four golfers will join Ty Votaw, Executive Director of the IGF Olympic Golf Committee, which has coordinated golf's Olympic bid, and Peter Dawson, chief executive of The R&A and joint secretary of the IGF. Golf and rugby sevens, the two sports recommended for the 2016 Olympic Programme by the IOC Executive Board, will present their final case to the full IOC membership before it votes that same day on whether to accept one, both or neither sport.