SB Nation User Blog: Ryan Ballengee

Paddy Harrington is Expecting a Rough British Open

Ryan Ballengee — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:39:25 -0000

Irish Golf Desk has been covering Irishman Padraig Harrington in the past couple of weeks as he ventured to Turnberry on Sunday and Monday before playing in this week's Ladbrokes.com Irish PGA Championship. The Golf Desk heard comments from Harrington that lead me to believe that this British Open may well resemble Carnasty.

Pointing to the heavy rough at The European Club, he said: "It’s just like Turnberry. Played 36 holes there on Sunday and Monday and it is the thickest, closest rough I have ever seen to fairways and greens - ever.

"I had three people looking for a ball for a minute five yards off a green - max five yards off a green - and we couldn't find it. And we knew where it was!

"When I saw the course seven weeks ago I thought the winning score might be 16 under par. Now I am thinking of five under par.

"I don't particularly like playing golf courses with heavy rough because I consider that I would have the imagination to get up and down and play my way around, by hitting shots. This [the rough] takes that element out of it. While I don't find it any fun and I am dreading the prospect of it being really tight, I know competitively I am as good as anybody else in that situation, so why not.

"But it is playing very similar to a US Open of maybe four or five years ago. Maybe an Oakmont sort of thing. It is actually very close to Muirfield in 2002. You couldn't get away with missing the fairways there."

It really seems like the R&A and Peter Dawson waver on how tough they would like for the Open to play. Many years, they leave the setup fairly vanilla and let the weather determine the winning score. It appears that the R&A has recognized what Jay Flemma pointed out in his championship preview that Turnberry is defenseless without weather. Therefore, they wanted to guarantee the sanctity of Turnberry by installing some gnarly rough.

Our New Show: Have Lunch With Waggle Room Live

Ryan Ballengee — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:01:13 -0000

We're making the foray into the universe of video programming! Just like our award-winning podcast, The 19th Hole, our new show Waggle Room LIVE is a half hour show that talks about the issues of the game. It's live and interactive with chat capabilities and you can interact with us on Twitter.

Enjoy!

Free Webcam Chat at Ustream

Chat during the show!

2009 US Women's Open Photo Gallery

Ryan Ballengee — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:37:35 -0000

2009 US Women's Open Photo Gallery

Our US Women's Open Correspondent, Nisha Sadekar, is beaming photos to Waggle Room headquarters and we are putting them on our Flickr site. Check back regularly for more photos as them come in to us!

Now You Can Take a Call on the Course With Your...Clothes?

Ryan Ballengee — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:00:15 -0000

If you go to any golf tournament, you're not allowed to bring in cell phones. (Although everyone does.) When you play golf, it's considered pretty rude to take a call while someone is getting ready to play. Most people think it's awfully annoying to ignore your playing partners in order to fiddle with your BlackBerry or iPhone.

via Getty Images

Well, then there's that 6% - not scientifically determined - of people that just cannot do without their cell phone on the course. And, what's more, it's really annoying to have to swing with a Bluetooth earpiece on or your cell phone velcroed to your head.

So, Polo Ralph Lauren has the answer for you: golf clothing with Bluetooth capability.

The RLX Bluetooth jacket—in a classic black-watch Scots plaid and looking for all the world like a regular, luxurious technical golf jacket with snap closures, ample venting, and waterproof three-layer bonding—has a touchpad on the left sleeve, embedded in the fabric, that allows you to connect to your iPod or MP3 player (or other more exotic devices) so that you can change songs, albums and so on without having to wriggle around in your clothes.

And it can all be yours for the low, low price of $1000.

The Decider: Tell Me The Greatest Shot Ever Played

Ryan Ballengee — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:47:19 -0000

In this week's Decider, we need your help to identify the great golf shot ever played - that someone actually saw. Jackie Gagne is disqualified. Mancil Davis has too many holes-in-one to compete. But Lawrence Donegan is nominating Paddy Harrington's 5 wood to the 17th at Birkdale as the greatest shot ever. His claim is buoyed by European Tour standout and former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance.

Here's a look at the shot again, in case you've forgotten it.

Of course, there are a ton of other shots to consider:

..and so many more.

What I need you to tell me is: What is the greatest shot ever played?

Search for Next LPGA Tour Commissioner Will Make California Recall Look Sane

Ryan Ballengee — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:27:35 -0000

Yesterday, Golf World confirmed what we have been saying here - courtesy of Life on Tour's Larry - for over a week now: Carolyn Bivens is out as LPGA Tour Commissioner. As Dave Seanor first noted and then Fanhouse's Greg Couch basically rewrote, the LPGA Tour's problems don't end (but may well start) with the Commish.

The next part of this saga, though, is going to be equally as painful as the awkward timing of the player mutiny that has led to Bivens' demise.

Now, with a job description has already been posted, every LPGA Tour player who has ever thought that they could be the next LPGA Tour Comissioner are either coming out and declaring their candidacy, or being nominated by folks in the media.

I'm partially guilty of this. I threw out that I would think Juli Inkster could be the next LPGA Tour Commissioner. Some people had been saying Dottie Pepper. Alan Shipnuck went on record today to say that Judy Rankin could be next. The aforementioned Greg Couch likes the idea of Nancy Lopez as the "face of the tour." Former sexpot Jan Stephenson has declared herself ready for the post.

If you thought the thousands of candidates that ran in the primary after former California governor Gray Davis' recall was obscene, then you may be in for a repeat performance. The plus side of this is that a porn star, a little person child star, and a couple thousand other whackos won't be applying for the job. And, even better, the next LPGA Tour Commissioner will not be determined by a public election.

But, what if it was? Though the next Commissioner has to be someone with business sense, networking skills, and the like, it is part of the duty of the Board of Directors to find a Commissioner that will resonate with fans. That would eliminate Jenna Jameson from contention, but make a former LPGA player into a very viable candidate.

Either way, it seems like there may be a whirlwind of speculation about the next LPGA Tour Commissioner that will quickly dwarf the dismissal of the current one. And, hopefully, the LPGA Tour will not wind up with their version of the Guvanator.

LPGA Response to the Bivens Chatter

Ryan Ballengee — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:24:36 -0000

I contacted David Higdon at the LPGA Tour today to reach out on a few subjects pertaining to Jon Show's report that Carolyn Bivens is open to a buyout, etc. Higdon, the LPGA's Chief Communications Officer, responded in kind with their statement - that he also shared with SI's Ryan Reiterman.

As we’ve said throughout the week, we want all of those interested in women’s professional golf to focus on the play here at the U.S. Women’s Open, which has started today and will conclude this weekend when the 2009 champion is crowned. Out of respect to the USGA and the amazing work that they’ve done and continue to do in producing and hosting this great event, we will not respond to media reports on internal matters related to the LPGA business. The LPGA players, staff and Board care deeply about our Tour, and we’re all working hard to achieve the same long-term objective to grow our Tour. We look forward to a great week of golf.

No confirmation or denial of Jon's, Beth Ann Baldry's, or Ron Sirak's reporting. Rather, a respectful admission that there are things going on and they will wait to make official comment.

I will say that the LPGA Tour specifically did not ask for this to happen - much less during US Women's Open week - in a way that would detract from the USGA. I think they're doing their best to manage a quickly unraveling situation while trying to respect the USGA's Championship.

In the Daily Mail, Brian Lee (with help of Getty Images) shows a hilarious photo sequence of Colin...

Ryan Ballengee — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:44:42 -0000

In the Daily Mail, Brian Lee (with help of Getty Images) shows a hilarious photo sequence of Colin Montgomerie taking out some ~~pirates~~ paparazzi that were trying to photograph him on the course from a boat. Monty lines up a shot and nails 'em!

Get Ready to Play the World's Longest Golf Course

Ryan Ballengee — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:18:32 -0000

Having had just about enough of Carolyn Bivens for one day, I started poking around the Internet to find something happy and interesting to post about today. Thanks to Cybergolf, I found it.

Meet Nullarbor Links Golf Course. Located in the Outback of Australia, it's an 18 hole, par 72 golf course that measures 1,365 kilometers on the card. Yeah, that's right. But how? Well, the course isn't really that long - it is the walk in between holes that will kill you.

The layout has one hole in each participating town or roadhouse along the Eyre Highway, from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia to Ceduna in South Australia. Each hole contains a green and a tee and somewhat rugged outback-style natural terrain fairway.

Don't worry, the walk and the course feature quite a bit of scenery.

The course crosses dramatic Australian landscape that spans rugged coastlines to the red dirt of the Nullarbor Plain, where kangaroos, bush turkeys and emus roam free to provide a quintessential Australian experience.

Curiously enough, with all of the scenery around, Nullarbor links features synthetic grass tees and greens.

via www.kalgoorlie.com

A company offers an eight day Tour of the participating towns and the golf course. According to the fact sheet, the course takes about four days to play.

But, the trip may be worth it. The green fee is just 50 Australian dollars. Do you think there's a way I could get on?

SBJ: Commissioner Bivens Open to Buyout Negotiation

Ryan Ballengee — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:55:33 -0000

Jon Show of Sports Business Journal/Daily reported this morning that sources near him say that Carolyn Bivens is open to negotiating a buyout. Further, the LPGA Board of Directors is contacting potential replacements.

Carolyn Bivens is amenable to taking a buyout from her post, and the LPGA BOD has authorized a golf industry exec to contact potential candidates to replace her, said sources close to the situation. As of last night, the board was not actively negotiating a buyout, said a source, but talks are expected to commence soon. While the outcome of any negotiation is uncertain, industry sources said a buyout of a basic employment contract such as Bivens’ could be completed in a week.

She is owed roughly $500,000 per year for the final two years of a three-year extension signed in ’08. Meanwhile, a representative authorized to speak on behalf of the board is contacting sports industry execs to gauge their interest in the job. It could not be determined how many candidates have been contacted.

Jon and I will be speaking on The 19th Hole Golf Show next week, but more updates as needed.