TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - SWINE FLU CUTS DOWN ON SPECTATORS

I hear the The Canadian Tour event scheduled this week in Mexico will proceed, but with certain precautionary measures due to the outbreak of Swine Flu. Players are prohibited from using local Mexican caddies at the San Luis Potosi Open, and no spectators will be allowed on the golf course to watch the tournament.
Said one tour player, “So it’ll be like every other Canadian Tour event.”

A GOOD CRY
If you happen to be a pet lover–particularly of dogs–and need an emotional outlet, then I highly recommend Marley & Me (check out the puppy licking the window on the left of this site). WAY better movie than anticipated with wonderful performances from Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson and Alan Arkin–but not a kid flick, and do bring a towel–it’s got a really sad final 15 minutes.

IT’S GOING TO RAIN MAY 6
Just a warning for anyone planning outdoor activities next Wednesday, May 6. Not only is it always cold and rainy at the Golf Association of Ontario’s annual Hall of Fame day at Wooden Sticks GC in Uxbridge, but it will also mark my first golf game on Canadian soil in almost a year since breaking my leg in baseball. Fate tends not to smile fondly upon me on anniversaries like that.

IS HAWAII PART OF NORTH AMERICA?
As part of a blog last Friday, I wondered whether Hawaii was part of North America or not. And so I posed that very question to the National Geographic Society:
TED: “Is Hawaii part of the North American continent?”
NGS: “Hawaii, while politically part of the United States, is not part of a
continent. A continent is a large unbroken landmass such as Africa or
Antarctica. Hawaii, in contrast, is small and scattered–and lies hundreds
of miles away from any large landmass. In terms of physical geography, Hawaii is actually a series of mountains, or seamounts. The islands grew, one at a time, as the Pacific Plate inched its way over a hot spot just southeast of the large island of Hawaii. A hot spot is a point deep in the planet’s core, where temperatures rise high enough to melt rock. The molten stone, called magma, shoots to the earth’s surface, sometimes creating volcanoes. The Emperor Seamounts and the Hawaiian Islands all began as blasts from the same raging hot spot. Even today, Loihi Seamount grows slowly from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, as magma continually enlarges the submerged mountain. Someday, many millennia from now, Loihi will rise above the water’s surface and emerge as the newest Hawaiian island.
I hope that this information proves helpful.”
TED: “So the answer is ‘no’?”

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - DOUG CARRICK FOR PRESIDENT

Doug Carrick will be named President of the American Society of Golf Course Architects on Monday, May 4, when the ASGCA convenes for its annual board meeting in Seattle. It’s not like he didn’t see it coming, mind you. Carrick was named to the executive committee four years ago. Membership to the select group means a five-year term, beginning with the position of Secretary. Carrick served as VP in his third year, and will follow the usual rotation to the presidential post in 10 days (at the conclusion of which he will serve a one-year term as past-president).

“It’s the highest recognition of your peers to be voted onto the executive committee,” indicated ASGCA Executive Director Chad Ritterbusch, whose society was birthed in 1946. Its founding members include legendary Canadian designer Stanley Thompson and Robert Trent Jones, each of whom has served as president. Other top dogs have included Donald Ross, RTJ Jr., Peter Dye and Arthur Hills, as well as the only other Canadians to ever hold the position, Robbie Robinson (who served two terms, the last of which came in 1972) and John Watson (1986).
“Doug is not only well liked by the members,” Ritterbusch added, “but well-respected for is creativity and his body of work as a golf course architect.”
Several ASGCA members will migrate from Seattle to Vancouver on Tuesday, when they’ll tee it up at Stanley Thompson’s Capilano.

BEST ISLAND DESTINATION
I notice Conde Nast Traveler has selected Vancouver Island the Best Island Destination in North America. I mean, it’s not like there were a lot to choose from, but I still would have thought PEI might have had a shot there. (I guess the Hawaiian islands are not considered part of North America. I’m going to have to look into that.)

MR. TED BITS, PLEASE
Once a month I get a phone call asking for Mr. Bits. Sometimes it’s “Is Tedbits there, please?”
“No, but his assistant, Timbits can speak with you.”

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - TEN CUPS, AND FAST PLAY AT COPPER CREEK

I just came across Ten Cups Golf Center—a driving range in Austin, Texas, whose website is worth checking out. Needless to say, they don’t take golf as seriously as most. Pictured below is a photo of their “director of golf instruction and head golf professional, Dr. Goen Tholl Ph.G.” Below that is an image of Ten Cups Man—unearthed recently in San Antonio, they suggest. There’s also a YouTube video on the site that you have to watch.

COPPER CREEK’S (SORT-OF) FAST-PLAY GUARANTEE
Copper Creek is advertising the guaranteed four-and-a-half-hour round this year at their Kleinburg facility. Innovative? Absolutely. But a guarantee? Not so much.
First of all, groups are timed from the moment they LEAVE the first tee to the time they COMMENCE putting on their 18th hole. (OK, that’s five minutes right there that they don’t count.)

The course will pay off as follows:
4:31 – 4:45 ($15 voucher toward your next round)
4:46 – 5:00 ($20 voucher)
5:01 – 5:15 ($30 voucher)
5:16 – 5:45 ($50 voucher)
5:45 or more ($80 voucher)

Considering prime time fees are $170, that means that after waiting on every shot for six hours, you’d still have to pay $90 for your next round. Guess what, if it takes six hours to play a game of golf, keep the coupon, because I’m not coming back. Besides, it’s not a four-and-a-half-hour guarantee; it’s more like a four-and-a-half-hour bet.

But I give Director of Operations Chris Neale and company full credit for coming up with a nifty campaign, particularly in an era when slow play is one of the leading reasons for reduced rounds. I’m also glad to report that you get rewarded for fast play, receiving a $20 voucher if you come in under four hours.

The deal does not apply when delays are caused by inclement weather conditions. And most important, all bets are off if your sorry group is the reason it took you so long.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - BRIAN GAY’S MIXED BAG
I’m wondering how to read Brian Gay’s mixed bag of equipment after his record-setting win at the Verizon Heritage on Hilton Head Island, SC, last weekend. Gay was using a TaylorMade R9 driver, Tour Edge Exotics CB2 3-wood, a Mizuno CLK FLI-HI 20-degree hybrid, Mizuno’s MX-900 3- and 4-irons; Mizuno MP-60 5- through 8-irons; Mizuno MP-32 9-iron and pitching wedge; a Titleist Vokey Spin Milled 56- and 59-degree wedges; a Mizuno Bettinardi C-Series putter; A Titleist Pro V1 ball; FootJoy Classics Dry Premiere shoes; a FootJoy StaSof glove; and Sligo Wear apparel. Clearly the man has spent some time deciding what he likes and doesn’t like. But he must also be an equipment sponsor nightmare considering how many different manufacturers he’s representing.

UPGRADE YOUR SWING WHEN YOU UPGRADE YOUR CLUBS
A reminder that Callaway Golf Canada and the Canadian PGA are hooking up to offer a free golf lesson with a club purchase in 2009. The unique partnership offers golfers a free 30-minute lesson with the purchase of any driver or set of irons from Callaway Golf’s 2009 product line. To receive a lesson certificate, golfers must purchase their Callaway product between May 1 and July 31, 2009. Certificates will be redeemable until December 15, 2009.
To redeem a lesson certificate, golfers should visit www.mycallaway.ca/freelessons and follow a simple four-step process that allows them to register their certificate and clubs, and select a participating Canadian PGA pro to take their lesson with.

TORNADO WARNING AT AUGUSTA
I spoke to Canadian teaching guru Sean Foley until almost midnight Friday night after Round Two of The Masters. I was discussing, among other things, the weather warnings I was hearing about the Augusta area and Foley related what happened at dinner. The rain, he said, had been driving sideways against the restaurant. Then there was dead silence. Recognizing that this might be a bad sign, having written a major paper on tornados in college, Foley sprung from his chair and haled the waitress. “Cheque, please!”

GOLF THROUGH THE LENS, Chris Gallow – THE WORLD’S MOST EXTREME GOLF HOLE.

The 19th hole at Legends Golf & Safari Resort proves to be he most extreme golf hole on the planet to my knowledge. The 630-yard par 3 requires a short helicopter ride to the tee box 1400 feet above the green. After about a 30 second pause from striking your tee shot hopefully your ball will find the continent shaped green below.

To play all 19 holes will cost you about 2,000 South African rand, or about $220 US, for that you get your round, the helicopter ride, plus a bunch of swag and a DVD of your shot on the 19th hole. now if you manage to nail a hole-in-one on the 19h you will win a sweet $1 million!

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - SHARK-INFESTED WATERS

They’re calling it business as usual at MacGregor Golf and the Greg Norman Collection (GNC), but you’ve got to admit the optics aren’t great when MacGregor sells GNC weeks before MacGregor’s high-profile figurehead signs on with TaylorMade to become its newest staff player.

In preparation for The Masters, the 54-year-old Aussie will play TaylorMade clubs, a TaylorMade TP golf ball, use a TaylorMade staff bag and display the TaylorMade logo on the side of his headwear. Norman, who’s warming up at the Houston Shell Open this week, chose on his own accord to play TaylorMade’s TP Red golf ball during his unlikely run at last year’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, where he held a two-stroke lead going into the final round and finished tied for third, which qualified him for next week’s Masters. Soon after a conversation began between Norman and TaylorMade that resulted in the new relationship.

I’ve heard a few people suggest he might still be playing MacGregor DW irons, so watch those clubheads closely this weekend.

As for the Greg Norman Collection is concerned, Canadian General Manager Emilio Albanese is actually excited about MacGregor’s sale of GMC to the Tharanco Group in February. Albanese says we should expect to see a hipper, more lifestyle look to GNC by the launch of its 2010 apparel, including a women’s line and a reworking of the famed shark logo–with less of the multi-coloured icon in favour or a black/white/charcoal version. The application of logo will also undergo a few changes, with the introduction of rubber patches and metal plates. Very cool!

So while we’re not sure how his game will be effected, Norman will still look great. But can he win the Masters? The odds are way against it. But then he almost won last year’s British. And Norman is always up for challenges. In fact, I heard he scaled Evert last week.
(Ooops, sorry.)