Katieshack

Lakers great Jerry West named Executive Director of the Northern Trust Open

Here's some interesting news (if the headline didn't give it away): Los Angeles sports icon Jerry West, who was pretty much Mr. Laker between 1960 and 2000, has been named the Executive Director of the Northern Trust Open. The Northern Trust, one of the longest-running tournaments on the PGA Tour, is held annually in mid-February at Riviera CC.

As the face of the Northern Trust Open, West will help to build out the tournament’s “L.A. Legends Club,” a group of Los Angeles-area leaders who will serve as ambassadors, helping to educate the community about the Northern Trust Open and all that it has done, and will do, for Los Angeles. West will work to further engage the community through public appearances and speaking engagements. His ultimate goal is to raise the profile of the Northern Trust Open in order to greater impact its charitable beneficiary, the LAJCC Charity Foundation.

West had a pretty impressive career as a 14-year player for the Los Angeles Lakers, beginning when the Lakers were a new franchise and transitioning into their head coach, then scout, then manager and executive vice president. Now he's transitioning to an entirely different sport! Given his track record with the amazing amount of things he accomplished in basketball, the Northern Trust should be in for some good stuff.

Interestingly enough, West's left-hand dribble silhouette has long been used in the NBA's official logo.

Amy Mickelson battling cancer

How sad...Phil Mickelson's wife, Amy, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Phil, an Southern California Golf Association alum, is suspending his PGA Tour schedule indefinitely, including possibly withdrawing from this year's U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in New York, where he was a runner-up in 2002. Amy will begin treatment with a major surgery as soon two weeks from now. Looks like ESPN (through the Associated Press) is reporting the most details at this point; read more here.

Let's all keep their family in our thoughts.

The Arnold Palmer Memory Book

So this is a pretty neat deal. Who could have guessed that the great Arnold Palmer would be turning 80 this September (Seriously?!? He's just a kid!), and in honor of his greatness, the USGA has started The Arnold Palmer Memory Book, an online forum for people to share their memories, photos and stories about The King. As an aside, the USGA Museum in Far Hills, N.J. houses the Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History, which, among other things, explores various facets of Palmer’s personal life, including his charity work, his life as a pilot and his incredible career on the golf course. All of his personal items on display were chosen by Palmer and his closest associates. Definitely worth a visit if you find yourself on the East Coast.

I was tipped off to this site by my friend and colleague at (and founder of) amateurgolf.com, Pete Wlodkowski. Pete shared a great memory in the book of a letter he wrote to Palmer when he was only 14. Palmer wrote one back to him in return, which he has saved ever since. It just doesn't happen like that anymore with most current-day players, it's too bad. Other memories include Palmer's personal conversations with fans during tournament rounds, visits to the Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital in Florida, and his impact on young golfers that has kept them fans decades later, among many others.

Anyway, take a look at the site and submit your own remembrances. Later this summer, the USGA Museum will assemble the most memorable submissions into a bound volume, for presentation to Palmer as an 80th birthday present. There are written, video and photo memories from mortals and PGA Tour players alike. Some of them gave me goosebumps, others gave me a laugh. Classy and gentleman were descriptors used frequently (and hey -- the one guy who said grumpy and cantankerous is a poor sport and should be deleted). We all know what a legend Arnold Palmer is, but it's special to see just how many lives he's touched over his impressive career.

Happy National Golf Day

Today, May 13, is National Golf Day. I think every day should be golf day, but no one asked me.

So what exactly is this occasion? It's not exactly the golf course party, lets-go-out-and-play-like-maniacs day that some might think (you could celebrate, though, with the stylish hole-in-one hat pictured, available at The Hat Company). National Golf Day is when representatives from golf's major organizations converge on Capitol Hill to educate congress, the media and opinion leaders on the economic, human, and environmental benefits of golf. Who's going to be there? The United States Golf Association, PGA Tour, World Golf Foundation, PGA of America and many others, speaking as one uniform voice. The First Tee, a junior golf organization with many affiliates in Southern California that are supported by the SCGA Foundation, will also be honored.

In California alone, 160,000 jobs are provided directly through golf and in hospitality (hotel, restaurant and retail) and landscape employment. Golf also provides key financial support via public course fees for vital city and county parks programs for kids and seniors.

Perhaps the most startling figure? Through golf, nearly $6.9 billion in revenue was gained by the California economy in 2006, contributing substantially to the state through tourism, property taxes, income taxes and taxes on golf merchandise.

As has been obvious here in California over the last several months, there's a lot going on in the sport right now. The attempt to tax golf came, went, and is on it's way back again. Water resources in the Southland are scarce and subject to regulations despite the environmental benefits that nearly all golf courses provide. People are finding it harder and harder in general to make time (and spend money) to play in the difficult economy. The general image of the "lavishness" of golf (take the negative attention that Northern Trust Bank, for instance, received for sponsoring the Los Angeles championship) is difficult for non-players to comprehend. They're also going to talk about the industry as a whole and the millions of jobs that it provides.

"The biggest message we're trying to give is golf's impact on jobs," Joe Steranka, CEO of the PGA of America, told USA Today. The PGA of America, contrary to the PGA Tour, oversees all of the golf courses' club professionals. "There are 16,000 golf courses in America, and 90 percent of them are small businesses that employ 40 to 50 people."

Those are some things that the folks on the Hill are going to hear about, along with these national stats courtesy of the PGA of America:

There are 28.7 million golfers in the US

2 million people are employed in the golf industry earning a total of $61 billion in wages

$3.5 billion is raised for charity every year by way of almost 150,000 charitable tournaments

almost 50 percent of all courses have increased their unmaintained areas by ten acres or more in the last ten years

$4.4 million in scholarships awarded to over 2,400 students by The First Tee

What can the individual golfer do in the meantime? Tell your legislator and the Governor why golf is important to you and to California’s economy. By visiting the California Alliance for Golf, of which the SCGA, NCGA, PGA of Southern California and other state golf groups support, you can receive the contact info and information regarding California's golf industry issues. When individual golfers share their stories, its a great opportunity to deliver a message of golf’s “positive impacts to lives and livelihood,” says the National Golf Course Owners Association. There is also a separate online National Golf Day petition that golfers can sign to show their support.

Keep an eye on the news today to see what all transpires at the Capitol and in the meantime, go out and hit the links to both work on your game and support the golf industry.

It's here...the FORE Magazine May/June issue

Click the cover to view the digital edition of FORE Magazine's May/June issue! The issue has mailed and will be hitting mailboxes this week. There's some pretty neat stuff in these pages, including:

• My dream baseball trifecta -- interviews with the Los Angeles Dodgers' Vin Scully, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Mark Gubicza and San Diego Padres' Tony Gwynn and their takes on golf and baseball
• Women's golf prodigy Amy Alcott and her life playing the game and working in the golf industry
• Supermodel and host of TV Land's She's Got the Look, Beverly Johnson, on living at PGA West and her ever-evolving golf game
• How to keep sun-safe on the golf course thanks to Sun SafeTee
• The Happy Golfer, San Clemente's Nick Karnazes, and his journey to play 96 courses in 96 days in 48 states while navigating his Winnebago, the Mother Ship   
• And much, much more! 

Let me know your thoughts and what you'd like to see in future issues. Hope you enjoy it.

What NOT to say if you're a golf broadcaster

So here's a thought if you're a well-known golf personality or have a reputation in the industry: stay far, far away from making political comments (or racist, sexist, violent or any other discriminatory comments, for that matter) unless you want severe backlash.

CBS golf analyst David Feherty learned this the very hard way with some recent statements he made in a Dallas magazine, in which he was serving as a guest columnist. Some stuff along the lines of "if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Osama bin Laden, there's a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death." It didn't help that Rush Limbaugh repeated it on his show. Here's Feherty's full column HERE.

Touchy subject for a lot of people, guy...I think Feherty's pretty entertaining in the golf world under normal circumstances, but this quote made me cringe. Talk about treading on thin ice. He was writing on his own experiences in visiting the Middle East, but even so...no matter what you're thoughts or opinions are, if you say them out loud (in such a distasteful manner) and you are a public figure, you're going to offend some folks, as well as give the network you work for a bad repuation. That's exactly what happened. I thought the golf world would have learned well enough from The Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman's mistake last year for some controversial Tiger comments; she was suspended for two months. Guess not.

Feherty's issued an apology HERE but yikes...

Bid on your own Tiger...part deux

Remember this post regarding the Hollywood Wax Museum auctioning off its wax statues? The results are in, and they are surprising to say the least.

More than 200 wax figures, including several sports stars, were auctioned off by Calabasas' Profiles in History, in response to the Hollywood Wax Museum's quest to remodel and enlarge its current facility. There were some pretty amazing opportunities to own some major wax, including a statue of Mr. Tiger Woods himself in his dapper Sunday red. In case you weren't paying attention, Tiger's a pretty popular guy in the golf world. My projection was for some golf nut to drop some serious coin on his likeness.

So imagine my surprise when I see (gasp) that Tiger was one of the least popular ones out there! PEOPLE!!!! Why don't you jump at a good thing when you see it?!?

The Tiger figure collected a whopping $1,650. Seems OK on the surface but...many statues hit pay dirt. Jesus and his 12 Disciples earned an impressive $15,340 to lead the pack, followed by The Beatles! - John, Paul, George and Ringo ($12,980) and Michelle Pfeiffer as "Catwoman" from Batman Returns ($8,260) as the top sellers at the auction. Bidders also scooped up Michael Jackson's costume from the 1988 Bad Concert Tour ($35,400) and Jason Voorhees' costume from Freddy vs. Jason ($8,260), also part of the Hollywood Wax Museum's collection. Wax figures of the cast of the M*A*S*H TV series ($7,670) and Charlton Heston as "Moses" from The Ten Commandments ($7,080) were other big sellers.

Other highlights included: W.C Fields ($5100); Marilyn Monroe ($5100); Stevie Wonder ($3900); Sylvester Stallone as "Rambo" from Rambo III ($5100); Tom Cruise ($5100); Two separate scenes / figures of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet from Titanic ($4800 each) and Bruce Willis as "Dr. Malcolm Crowe" from The Sixth Sense ($4800).

Sports figures were popular as well: Muhammad Ali ($5100); Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ($1800); Michael Jordan ($2700); Joe Montana ($1560); Mike Tyson ($3000); Mark McGwire ($3600); and Hulk Hogan ($3900).

This could be one of the very few competitions that Tiger has ever finished near the bottom.

Yum, chocolate golf balls

Oh wow, what a hectic couple of weeks it's been. BUT, it has all come to fruition as the latest issue of FORE Magazine is at the printer with none other than one of sports best-known voices gracing the cover. It's a very exciting issue with some great interviews and interesting content. More on that later, though, when the digital issue is up and running.

So in my prowl for interesting golf treats of both the playable and edible variety, I ran across these great golf ball candies that rank in my top two cutest golf candies on the planet (see the other one HERE). I don't know what it is about the weeks flanking the Masters, but they always produce some really cute things.

Anyway, these Cherries Divine Chocolatiers' chocolate-covered cherries resemble a golf ball and even come in an authentic golf ball sleeve. Buy them by the sleeve or in a box of a dozen; cherries are wrapped in butter cream and then hand-dipped in milk, white or dark chocolate and molded into the shape of a golf ball. They're $35 a dozen, but well worth it.