In the News

Put a little spring in your golf swing with a free 10-minute lesson during the 12th annual PGA Free Lesson Month.

Throughout the month of May, PGA/LPGA Professionals nationwide will provide golfers of every age and skill level with the opportunity to learn the basics of the game or improve upon existing skills through this successful initiative, which will reach the one million free lesson mark in 2009. Last year more than 106,600 free 10-minute lessons were giving according to Play Golf America.

A large fire that engulfed part of Horry County on Thursday has spared the Myrtle Beach golf community the worst of its wrath to this point.

The fire ravaged some private homes but the area's tourism infrastructure was unaffected.

Heading into what is expected to be the nicest weekend of the year, only two Myrtle Beach golf courses are expected be closed on Friday as a result of the fire.

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Winner of the 1977 PGA Championship at Pebble Beach, and a total of 21 PGA Tour events, Lanny Wadkins has been elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame and will be inducted in St. Augustine as part of the Class of 2009 on Nov. 2.

Wadkins received 61 percent of the vote through the PGA Tour Ballot returned by a distinguished group of Hall of Fame members, golf writers, historians and golf dignitaries from around the world.

TURNBERRY, Scotland - In advance of the 2009 Open Championship, Turnberry's Ailsa Course has undergone a number of adjustments designed to ensure that, as one of Britain's finest links, it continues to challenge modern professionals. The most extensive changes are on the 10th, 16th and 17th holes, though most have been enhanced in some way.

"Today's professionals are bigger, stronger, fitter, have more technology at their command, and it's very important that we keep our great links courses relevant to the modern-day professional," explained The R&A's Chief Executive, Peter Dawson. "We've been doing that at every Open venue, with Turnberry having had a considerable number of changes since the 1994 Open Championship."

Two of golf's most powerful organizations are coming together for the common good of the game.

The United States Golf Association and The PGA of America announced a partnership for a Junior Golf Program in 2009 that focuses on expanding the number of junior golfers while fostering life-long participation in the game.

The pilot program will involve PGA Professionals in seven PGA Sections across the country that have demonstrated strong junior golf infrastructures - Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, Northern Texas, South Florida, Southern California and Wisconsin.

The program will consist of three initiatives; an After School program, a Trio Mentoring program, and a Course Access program.

Members of the victorious 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell were hard luck losers at the 2009 Masters, but their second place finishes have them tied for the lead in the first installment of rankings that will decide the 2010 squad.

Ryder Cup points can only be accumulated in major championships in 2009, with every $1,000 earned in prize money equivalent to one point in the standings.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - North America's most-read print golf publication is celebrating a decade online.

Golfer's Guide.com, which launched April 1999 as a complement to the company's growing number of regional magazines, now features unique content designed to keep its dedicated readership of more than one million golfers connected to the latest information from across the golf industry.

This June two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and golf fanatic Justin Timberlake, who serves as host to a PGA Tour event in Las Vegas, will join Michael Jordan at Bethpage Black for the second annual Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge.

The final entry to the foursome that will battle Bethpage's Black Course under U.S. Open conditions prior to the 2009 U.S. Open will be determined April 30, when an amateur is finally picked from a field of 75,581 entries. Golf fans can vote for one of the four remaining finalists at www.gdopencontest.com .

Pennsylvania's Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, located just outside the city of Strousburg, PA and 75 miles from New York City, played host to the 1938 PGA Championship. The 27-hole facility with 24 holes situated on a private island is a classic golf course, designed by the legendary A.W. Tillinghast, who also built Bethpage Black, home to this summer's U.S. Open.

This golf season, Shawnee will break tradition and encourage its visitors to play ready golf in an effort to reduce pace of play.

The Myrtle Beach-based golf course management company Signature Golf Group has promoted from within, naming Vice President of Operations and Construction David S. Downing II, who served as president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America in 2008, as its new president.

Downing replaces one of Signature's founders, Steve Taylor. Taylor, who helped form Signature Golf in 2005, will become the company's chairman of the board. He intends to complete the transition while Downing is still a member of GCSAA's Board of Directors as Immediate Past President.