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| August 4, 2005 |
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Divot Mix"St. Andrews shows that every course doesn't have to be immaculate, green, watered, manicured. There are different ways to play golf. And this way is great." -- PGA Tour professional Bo Van Pelt Synthetic Turf donates putting green to troops Synthetic Turf International, supplier of premium synthetic putting greens and related synthetic surfaces, has donated a synthetic putting green to U.S. troops stationed in Kuwait.
PGA Tour veteran Brad Faxon was the catalyst behind the donation to the Expeditionary Medical Facility at Camp Arifjan. The gesture began with Faxon enlisting STI distributor, New England Putting Greens, LLC, to design a putting green for the new home he is building in Barrington, R.I. The pastor at Faxon's church, Charles N. Goldsborough, is a Naval Reservist who was called to duty after 20 years as a civilian. In a letter to Faxon, Goldsborough commented how the troops were hitting balls in the desert in an attempt to play golf. He inquired whether Faxon could provide a putting surface for the soldiers. New England Putting Greens President Russ Maymon put Faxon in touch with STI President William Campbell who immediately agreed to donate the putting green. Campbell said, "I have enormous respect for the members of our military. Providing them a small recreational pleasure is the least I can do. I thank Brad, Russ and Pastor Goldsborough for providing STI the opportunity to get involved in such a worthwhile endeavor.” Faxon paid to have the green shipped to Kuwait, in addition to supplying clubs, putters and balls. Ironically, it was held up by Kuwaiti Customs who upon first seeing the green rolled up on a dowel, believed it was an agricultural product and refused entry into the country. Contact www.synthetic-turf.com. 2005 Walker Cup teams named
The matches consists of 16 singles and eight foursomes matches. Great Britain and Ireland's team has won the last three matches, in 1999, 2001 and 2003; twice by scores of 15-9 and by 12½ -11½ in 2003. The USA leads the series overall, 31-7-1. Jon Jennings, CGCS at Chicago Golf Club, who is hosting the match, was recently the subject of The Golf Channel's What's in the Bag? program. The show, which normally covers sticks and balls, took look at the life of a GCSAA golf course superintendent. The program also included interviews with several GCSAA golf course superintendents from the 2005 Golf Industry Show. For scheduled airtimes and 60-second trailer of the show click here . The U.S. team includes Matthew Every, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Michael Putnam, Tacoma, Wash.; Lee Williams, Alexander City, Ala.; Anthony Kim, La Quinta, Calif.; Brian Harman, Savannah, Ga.; John Holmes, Campbellsville, Ky.; Billy Hurley, Leesburg, Va.; Jeff Overton, Evansville, Ind.; Kyle Reifers, Dublin, Ohio; and Nicholas Thompson, Coral Springs, Fla. The top two alternates are Luke List, Ringgold, Ga., and Ryan Blaum, Coral Gables, Fla. Bob Lewis, who played on four winning Walker Cup teams from 1981 through 1987, will be team captain. He also was captain of the 2003 team. “I am really excited about this group,” said Lewis. “They have a lot of talent and I look forward to going to bat with these guys. I want them to have a good experience. I give the committee a lot of credit for its selections.” Profiles of the members of both Walker Cup teams are available at: The Golf Channel will air the matches from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday Aug. 13 and from 4 to 6 p.m. (EDT) Sunday, Aug. 14. For more on the Walker Cup visit www.walkercup.org. Hurricane season to get worse For anyone who has been impacted by hurricanes, the 2005 tropical storm season probably can't end soon enough. Unfortunately, the National Weather Service says the worst is yet to come. In response, it has issued an updated 2005 hurricane season outlook. The experts say an additional 11 to 14 tropical storms could develop from August through November, with seven to nine becoming hurricanes, including three to five major hurricanes. In total, this season is likely to yield 18 to 21 tropical storms, nine to 11 of them becoming hurricanes, and five to seven making it to major hurricane status.
“The tropics are only going to get busier as we enter the peak of the season,” said Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, director of the National Weather Service. “This may well be one of the most active Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, and will be the ninth above-normal Atlantic hurricane season in the last eleven years.” “Although we have already seen a record-setting seven tropical storms during June and July, much of the season's activity is still to come,” said Gerry Bell, lead meteorologist for the Atlantic Hurricane Seasonal Outlook. The predicted high levels of activity during the remainder of the season are consistent with NOAA's pre-season outlook issued last spring, and are comparable to those seen during August to October of the very active 2003 and 2004 seasons. Atmospheric and oceanic conditions that favor an active hurricane season are now in place, as was predicted in the pre-season outlook. “Warmer-than-normal sea-surface temperatures and low wind shear are among the culprits behind these stronger and more numerous storms,” Bell added. With ocean and atmosphere conditions known to produce increased tropical storm activity in approximately 20-30 year cycles, the experts are predicting a continuation of above-normal seasons for another decade or perhaps longer. Similar conditions also produced very active Atlantic hurricane seasons during the 1950s and 1960s, while the opposite phase during 1970-1994 resulted in only three above-normal Atlantic hurricane seasons in the entire 25 years. The 2005 outlook is a joint product of scientists at the Climate Prediction Center, the Hurricane Research Division and the National Hurricane Center. Thompson named Curtis Cup captain Seven-time USGA champion Carol Semple Thompson, 56, of Sewickley, Pa., has been selected as the captain for the 2006 United States of America Curtis Cup team by the Women's Committee of the USGA. The 2006 Curtis Cup will take place July 29-30 at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore. Thompson has competed on a record 12 USA Curtis Cup teams, including 2002, when she holed a 27-foot putt from just off the 18th green to retain the cup. Her overall record is 18-15-4, including 9-8-1 in singles competition. The first Curtis Cup Match was held in 1932 at Wentworth (England) Golf Club and the USA owns a 24-6-3 record, including victories in the last four Matches. “I think it will be very different,” said Thompson when asked to compare playing in the Curtis Cup versus captaining the team. “Before, I was just able to relax and think about my own game and now I will have to think about a lot more people. But I think it's a natural progression and I think it will be great fun. I am very excited. I figured someday it would come. I guess I didn't figure it would come this soon.” |
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The United States team has been named for the Walker Cup Match to be played Aug. 13-14 at 
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