Woods believes he may design courses in future

6/4/2001

DUBLIN, Ohio - Tiger Woods, who three-peated yesterday as Memorial Tournament champion, is making people forget about the Hogans, Palmers and Nicklauses.

Is he about to also supplant folks like Tom Fazio, Rees Jones and Toledo's Art Hills?

Woods said at Muirfield Village Golf Club that course design may well be in his not-too-distant future.

“I know it is fun to be creative and turn nothing into something,'' Woods said. “I'm sure there will come a point in time when I will want to do that. I'll cut back on some of my sponsorship obligations and get involved with course design.

“When?

“It's not an immediate priority. I like where I'm at right now. I'm sure that will change over time, though.''

And will a Tiger Woods course have three tee boxes - long, longer and longest?

“You really don't have to have the hole 470, 480 yards for it to be a challenging hole,'' said Tiger, who feels innovative bunkering techniques may be the best way to toughen a course.

ON TAP: Mike Stone of Toledo and Swanton's Eric Oakes are in the 120-player field fighting for 26 U.S. Open berths at today's 36-hole sectional qualifier at two Columbus-area clubs, The Lakes and Double Eagle. A majority of the participants in the event are PGA Tour pros who played in the Memorial this past week ... Also, the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic will stage its annual media gathering today at Highland Meadows Golf Club. Defending champ Annika Sorenstam will not attend, per the usual custom, but will hold a press conference via a TV uplink.

MEIJER TOUR: Toledo-area golfers have fared well in qualifying tournaments on the Meijer Junior Players Tour.

Among recent age-group winners were Chad Middaugh (boys 16-up) with a 74 and James Rasik (boys 14-15) with an 82 in an event at Duck Lake CC in Albion, Mich. Sammy Hammons carded an 80 to win the boys 16-up division at Binder Park in Battle Creek, Mich.

JUNIOR EVENTS: Whiteford Valley will stage its Junior Golf Academy (ages 18 and under) in three three-day sessions ... June 18-20, July 9-11 and Aug. 6-8. Golfers receive 90 minutes of daily instruction, lunch and free greens fees. The course will host a Junior Day on Thursday, June 14 featuring $5 greens fees, and will sponsor a Junior Golf League from June 21-Aug. 23. For information on junior events, call the Whiteford Valley pro shop at 734-856-4545 or toll free 888-395-9041.

ON THE WEB: The U.S. Senior Open won't be staged at Inverness Club until June of 2003, but the event's website is already up and running. Ticket information and volunteer opportunities are among the items that can be found at www.2003senioropen.com.

COURSE RECORD: Dan Sutton, an assistant pro at Whiteford Valley, set a course record with an 8-under 63 at West Shore Golf and Country Club in Grosse Ile, Mich. He was competing in a Michigan PGA Assistants tournament and carded nines of 32-31.

BOOKING IT: The United States Golf Association has three versions of the game's rules book available. The Rules of Golf is available for $1, Decisions on the Rules of Golf costs $15, and a new book, Golf Rules Illustrated, is $19.95. There are additional shipping charges. The USGA order department may be reached at 800-336-4446 ... Also available is the latest annual edition of the Darrell Survey's Golf Equipment Almanac, which details the brands and models favored by both professional golfers and consumers. The $24.95 almanac is available in some bookstores or can be ordered from the Darrell Survey at 800-610-4653 or through its website at www.darrellsurvey.com.

CHIP SHOTS: The SAS Championship is a late addition to the 2001 Senior PGA Tour schedule. It will be played Sept. 21-23 at Prestonwood CC in Cary, N.C. ... Entry forms for two Toledo Metro Golf Association events, the S.P. Jermain match play championship (July 7-8, 13-15) and the Toledo Amateur (Aug. 17-19) are available through Toledo Amateur Golf, P.O. Box 460, Sylvania, O., 43560-0460. Entries close June 30 for the Jermain and Aug. 11 for the Toledo Amateur. The entry fee for each event is $85 ... A new regional tour for both male and female high school and college golfers, Golf Tour Elite, begins one-day, 36-hole tournament competition on June 12. For information, call tour director Russ Cunningham at 877-374-7858.