Divot Mix

"Annika Sorenstam reminds me of Ginger Rogers, because if she were a man, she might be famous." -- David Feherty

People vs. the Pros highlights golf course management

Next Monday, Dec. 6, ESPN viewers will see PGA Tour professional golfers John Daly and Gary McCord tee it up in competition with amateurs, but they'll also learn about the challenges of golf course management during the 2004 BASF People vs. the Pros at Pinehurst, presented by GCSAA.

The competition will be broadcast at 9 p.m. CST, Monday, Dec. 6. It will feature match-play competition in two age divisions of amateurs, with Daly and McCord as opponents. The amateurs competed in a qualifying tournament for the right to square off against the pros.

The event was conducted Aug. 4-9 at Pinehurst, N.C., with the No. 2 course hosting the championship.

In addition to GCSAA's title recognition, interviews with Paul Jett, CGCS at Pinehurst and GCSAA CEO Steve Mona, CAE will be broadcast. The production will also include two commercial spots featuring Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman speaking on behalf of GCSAA members and the association.

"This will be a tremendous showcase for our members and the golf course management profession," Mona said. "On behalf of GCSAA and its members, I want to express my appreciation to BASF and Winnercomm Productions for including us in the event. It was operated in a first class manner and provided an excellent platform to demonstrate the value of the golf course superintendent."

In addition to its title sponsorship, BASF also contributed funds to the Environmental Institute for Golf.

Price named 2005 Bob Jones Award winner

Nick Price, a 2003 inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame and winner of three major championships and more than 40 professional titles worldwide, has been selected to receive the 2005 USGA Bob Jones Award.

Presented annually since 1955, it is the USGA's top award, given in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. The first was given to Francis Ouimet.

The award seeks to recognize a person who emulates Jones' spirit, his personal qualities and his attitude toward the game and its players. It will be presented on Feb. 5 at the Association's Annual Meeting in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Price, 47, was the best player in the game in the 1990s, winning 15 PGA Tour events and 12 times internationally. In 1994 he won six times, including top finishes at the British Open and PGA Championship, on his way to PGA Tour Player of the Year honors for the second consecutive year. In his overall professional career, he has won 18 times in the U.S. and 23 times internationally.

He has been a professional golfer since 1977 and has ranked among the sport's top 50 leading money leaders for the last 18 seasons. He has published books on the golf swing, built golf courses and learned to fly his own helicopter and recently started his own golf apparel company. He also is the only golfer to be ranked among the top 50 of the world rankings since its inception in 1986.

More noticeable, however, is the way Price has shown his personal qualities in his daily routine, with a manner befitting the phrase, "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice."

"To receive this award is a great honor for me," said Price. "I have always respected and admired Bob Jones, not only for the way he played golf, but also because of the way he conducted himself both on and off the golf course. Throughout my career, I have strived to achieve the etiquette and sportsmanship that Bob Jones exemplified."

For more on Price and a complete list of past winners visit http://www.usga.org/news.

USDA examines regional approach to non-native "escapees"

Trees and shrubs native to other parts of the world have long been part of landscapes in the United States, but problems arise when some of these plants escape cultivation. Too often, they become weeds or invade natural plant communities.

That's why Agricultural Research Service horticulturalist Mark Widrlechner and colleagues are retooling a strategy for assessing the risk of such escapes across North America into something more suited for specific regions.

This work at the ARS North Central Plant Introduction Station in Ames, Iowa, has produced new models geared toward improving plant-escape predictions. The models integrate life-history traits of woody plants found in the north-central United States with climatic and geographic risk analysis.

Widrlechner's team collected data on 100 non-native landscape trees and shrubs grown in Iowa, tested approaches for predicting their escape abilities, and then compared the predictions with escape histories.

The scientists modified the existing process for assessing the risk of non-native woody plants escaping anywhere in North America by including regionally important traits. They then designed a new process that includes a geographic-risk factor.

Few intentionally introduced species escape cultivation, and even fewer become pests. But effective predictive models can reduce time and costs associated with quarantine programs designed to spot problem plants. Widrlechner stressed that all related models and strategies should be augmented with long-term monitoring of sites that could be a foothold for newly naturalizing woody plants.

This study incorporated knowledge about regional adaptation from the NC7 Regional Ornamental Plant Trials. This program, which has evaluated more than 620 accessions of woody landscape plants under a wide range of environments, is marking its 50th year. Details of the study and the new models were published recently in the Journal of Environmental Horticulture.

NOAA wraps up active 2004 hurricane season

With the Atlantic hurricane season just over, the hurricane and climate prediction specialists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, say 2004 was one for the record books.

Nine named storms affected the United States during the six-month hurricane season - three as tropical storms (Bonnie, Hermine and Matthew) and six as hurricanes (Alex, Charley, Frances, Gaston, Ivan and Jeanne).

Three of the hurricanes (Charley, Ivan and Jeanne) made landfall as major hurricanes. The state of Florida was affected by four hurricanes and one tropical storm.

“During late summer it seemed that each day's headlines highlighted the impact of this hurricane season,” said David L. Johnson, director of the National Weather Service.

Back in May, NOAA made a seasonal hurricane projection that called for 12 to 15 named storms, six to eight hurricanes and two to four major hurricanes. The season actually produced 14 named storms, of which nine became hurricanes, and six became “major" storms of Category 3 or higher.

In August alone, eight systems reached tropical storm strength, breaking the previous record of seven in 1933 and 1995.

“What could not be anticipated this season was the high number of U.S. landfalling hurricanes,” added Johnson. On average, the U.S. experiences two to three landfalling hurricanes during above-normal hurricane seasons, well below the eight landfalls recorded this year.

This is the first time since record keeping began in 1851 that four hurricanes have impacted Florida in one year. The only other state to have experienced this level of activity was Texas in 1886. Hurricane Ivan was an encore performer with two landfalls during 2004, first as a Category 3 hurricane near Gulf Shores, Ala., and second as a tropical storm over southwestern Louisiana.

Human and economic impacts were considerable. Direct U.S. hurricane-related fatalities totaled 59. Florida bore the brunt of U.S. property damage, with estimates higher than were caused by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

“The 2004 season was one to tell your grandchildren about,” said Max Mayfield NOAA's National Hurricane Center director. “I believe, and stress at every opportunity, that residents should have a plan, stay informed, and act when told to do so by their local officials. We should mark November 30th not as the end of the 2004 hurricane season, but the beginning of the six months we have to prepare for next season.”

Tight Lies Tour to allow rangefinders in 2005

According to the Associated Press , the Tight Lies Tour is going to allow its players to use the SkyGolf GPS system to measure distances during competition next year.

The use of artificial measuring devices is a violation of the Rules of Golf, but the USGA and R&A have discussed allowing such devices under the rules. In the United States, rounds played with the aid of electronic rangefinders can be posted for handicap.

Proponents say that allowing the system gives everyone access to the kind of precise yardages players on the PGA Tour are used to having.

For the complete AP story, visit http://www.pga.com/news.