Finchem feels DC's Pain

[Jonathan Cummings]

(Full page add Finchem took out in the Wash Post yesterday)

[Rob_Waldron]

Yeah Right!

How can the tour not have an event in either Philadelphia (IVB Classic disappeared in 1981 when Merion hosted the US Open) or Washington DC?

Both cities having thriving golf populations and always supported their events dispite second tier fields.

Good business???  

[Tim Taylor]

I'm sure that if any of the DC based corporations - Booz Allen, Lockheed, Marriott, to name a few - were willing to pony up $40M Finchem would be happy to have the event here.

Like Toucan Sam said "follow your nose, it always knows". The smell of money that is...

Maybe if all the golf writers would just annoint The PLAYERS Championship as a fifth major then Finchem and the TOUR could get over their apparent inferiority complex.

Frankly, I'd rather see an LPGA event come back here. The ladies seem much more accessible and fan-friendly and they could play a classic course without having to lengthen and tighthen it.

Tim

[Martin Del Vecchio]

This really sucks.  The DC area has supported this tournament so well since it arrived in 1980.  Its current state shows that fan support simply doesn't matter any more; corporate sponsorship matters.  And the date matters.

This year, only one player in the top 30 (Brett Wetterich) played.  When I attended the Kemper Open in the early 1980s, I saw Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Watson, Lanny Wadkins, and many others play.

The PGA has made a mess of this tournament (and others) while chasing FedEx dollars and coming up with this weird "playoff" system.  Finchem seems bent on maintaining and increasing purses, to keep his stars happy, at the expense of the long-term health of the tour.  

Yecch.

[Jerry Kluger]

Please see my post under the Fedex thread.

[Anthony Butler]

This really sucks.  The DC area has supported this tournament so well since it arrived in 1980.  Its current state shows that fan support simply doesn't matter any more; corporate sponsorship matters.  And the date matters.

This year, only one player in the top 30 (Brett Wetterich) played.  When I attended the Kemper Open in the early 1980s, I saw Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Watson, Lanny Wadkins, and many others play.

The PGA has made a mess of this tournament (and others) while chasing FedEx dollars and coming up with this weird "playoff" system.  Finchem seems bent on maintaining and increasing purses, to keep his stars happy, at the expense of the long-term health of the tour.  

Yecch.

Finchem is the weasel who will kill the golden goose... read the article in SI's Golf Plus insert and you can see how he stiffed Booz Allen. He's been promising to do something with Avenel for years... in fact the tournament was moved to Congressional last year under the impression the work would be done in 2005. Finchem's excuse? They fumbled the permit process... this from an organization that has successfully built two dozen courses.

Maybe it's karmic payback for all the money those Washington-based consultants charge the government for comparably little effect. It's kind of strange that there won't be an event in Washington. Apart from the Fed Ex Cup thing, the early fall date is a better time of year weather wise for DC.

[Jimmy Muratt]

The event really generated some excitement again in 2005 when it was back at Congressional.  It's a shame it was ever moved from there.  The tourney needs to go to a far better venue, if Congo is out of the question, then I'd like to see it at a course like Four Streams or RTJ.  Four Streams would provide plenty of challenge..... handling traffic and parking could be an issue however.  

Springtime or the Fall would also be far better than the mid-summer.

[Jerry Kluger]

The venue issue is bogus.  There are plenty of courses on the Tour that are not as good as Avenel.  It might not be the best course on tour but it certainly is far from the worst.

[Jimmy Muratt]

Jerry,

I strongly disagree that the venue issue is bogus.  The 2005 event drew an excellent field and player after player commented how excited they were to return to Congressional.  It's no secret that Avenel is disliked by most of the players, why do you think they have and plan to spend so much money to "fix" it up.......

The time of year on the schedule and venue are major issues.

[Jerry Kluger]

Jimmy: They played at Congressional because it was a week before the Open and it was not far from the Open venue.  Look at the courses they will play next year and there are a whole bunch that are no better than Avenel including: Phoenix, Palm Springs, Tampa, Houston, Hartford, Memphis, Milwaukee, Illinois(John Deere venue) and Boston.  The players aren't going to play those courses because they like the course - they go there because they fit well in their schedules, their sponsors want them there, or family reasons -not because of the quality of the course.  I will acknowledge that there are courses out there that are clearly better than Avenel but you don't see the better players playing only the great courses.

[John Kavanaugh]

I'm thinking the Abramoff scandal didn't help..

[Jonathan Cummings]

The Wash Senators and now golf.....

Jimmy - the players are less 'not wild' about Avenel then you think.  To a man, they were praising the place as vastly improved and magnificently condition (prior to the Sunday deluge).  The media interviews were positive and the players I talked to said they did not want this stop on the tour stopped!

You are correct - their choice is Congo.  You are incorrect to think the tour or the players would have any interest at all in RTJ or 4 Streams (Caves too).  They want to be near the Beltway so their families can see DC and the sights.  They are perfectly happy to play Avenel forever as long as they can play at a venue close to the museums, etc.  Most playes are upset that Avenel has been axed by the tour, players like Tom Kite are livid.

Not sure when you last played Avenel but if it's been quite a while you may be quite surprised...

JC  

[Jonathan Cummings]

An update.......

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2006

PGA TOUR ANNOUNCES PLANS TO COMMENCE TPC AVENEL UPGRADES

Future Event Options To Be Explored


(PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL) The PGA TOUR today announced that as soon as necessary approvals are obtained, it will commence a comprehensive set of improvements to its TPC Avenel facility in Potomac, Maryland. The multi-million dollar investment will include significant upgrades to the club, including major improvements to the golf course, along with a remodeling and expansion of the clubhouse.

The TPC Avenel project is currently in the permitting phase, with work on the facility expected to begin in late 2006 or early 2007 and completed during 2008.

According to PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, "Our goal with this significant upgrade to TPC Avenel is to ensure that it will serve as a top-flight tournament venue.

"In light of our construction timetable, and after a comprehensive review of all our options, we have determined that a TOUR event in the fall of 2007 will not be feasible," Finchem said.

"As we move ahead with our improvements at TPC Avenel, we would like to thank our fans and sponsors for their support," Finchem said. "The TOUR remains committed to the Washington, D.C. market and we look forward to returning in the future with top-level PGA TOUR golf competition."

[Wayne_Kozun]

These days it seems to be hardly worth having an event if it is not a major or one of the WGC events as you get such a crappy field and/or a crappy date.

The Canadian Open used to be a significant tournament but it has had awful fields for years given its poor date, one week after Labour Day, and now the date is arguably worse as it is one week after the Open Championship.  

This also makes it hard to have the event in western Canada since players will not like to have to move 8 time zones, never mind the 5 that you have from the UK to eastern North America.

[Jimmy Muratt]

Here is a blurb from Leonard Shapiro in today's Washington Post regarding the state of Avenel:


I think the commissioner heard loud and clear that Washington was not about to accept a second-class golf event played at what has become a second-class venue at TPC Avenel. He heard it from his own players, from the press, from talk radio, from letters to the editor, from e-mails on the internet and other correspondence to his office in Ponte Vedra. And finally, I believe he got the point.

Now it seems as if the tour may also finally be getting serious about fixing up Avenel, ostensibly the reason there will be no tournament here in 2007, and probably 2008 as well. If the tour is going to spend what they say is $18 to $20 million and what others say likely will balloon to the $25 million range, they want to do it right.

They really can't re-route the golf course, but they can certainly move enough earth to make it a more challenging venue, and perhaps also upgrade the infrastructure Avenel never has had to support the thousands of golf fans who have flocked to the course year after year.

[Jason Mandel]

Here's a suggestion. Move the tournament to RTJ in Mannassas.  The course is well equipped to handle large crowds and the players seem to love the course.  

They could still hold the Presidents cup there every four years and move the DC tournament if they wanted, to another venue.

Just a thought.

Jason

[Jimmy Muratt]

Jason,

I agree with that.  RTJ would be a great tournament site in the DC area, it can definitely handle the crowds.  

Spending $18-$20 million to "fix up" Avenel sounds crazy.

[Jason Mandel]

Jimmy,

I just dont know what they could do for 18-20mill that would "fix up the course".  I would think that for 18-20 mill they could go buy some property in virginia and start over

[Jonathan Cummings]

Congressional is the first choice of the PGA and a fixed up Avenel the second choice.  There are no other options.  The sponsors have spoken loudly and clearly that this tournament must be played within the shadow of the beltway - that's where the fans are.  

The golfing public just won't go out to the far burbs for a regular tournament.  It would be financial suicide to host a regular tour event 20-30 miles from DC.

JC

[Andy Hughes]

Jason/Jimmy:  if the goal is to make Avenel a top course, why could they not do so for $18 million? I don't believe it is really thatbad anyway, is it (I saw it last several years ago spectating)?
Hell, they could have Glenn Dale host the tour after a good architect spent that much money improving it  

[Scott_Burroughs]

Have the Tour bring in Bobby Weed to 'fix' Avenel.  They already have/had a long-term relationship, with Weed co-designing several TPC courses already.  If can do to Avenel what he did to White Manor, then their prayers are answered (IMO).

I suppose another option would be to bring in Pete Dye, who just toughened/lengthened/supposedly bettered another Ault/Clark design at the River Course at Virginia Tech.

[Jonathan Cummings]

There will be no big time archie doing the changes at Avenel.  It will be done internally with much of the work performed by PGA engineers and agronomists.  As has been pointed out above there can be no significant change in the routing.  

The goal is first; make the property sound from a hydrological standpoint (drain much better) then to mold as much character and strength as they can into the existing routing.

JC

[Scott_Burroughs]

There will be no big time archie doing the changes at Avenel.  It will be done internally with much of the work performed by PGA engineers and agronomists.  As has been pointed out above there can be no significant change in the routing.  

The goal is first; make the property sound from a hydrological standpoint (drain much better) then to mold as much character and strength as they can into the existing routing.

JC

I get that and meant what I said based on that, but how much character and strength are they gonna get out of the course 'in-house' besides firmer surfaces?  Are they using the 'in-house' architects, which have built how many interesting TPC courses to date (Sawgrass was Dye, Avenel was Ault/Clark, etc.)?  Is Weed still on the TPC payroll (a legitimate question)?

Is this just going to be another Harding Park, which based on several here have called it a huge disappointment (design-wise).

What I'm saying is that the Tour is not known for creating interesting golf on their own.

[Jonathan Cummings]

Scott - I think the PGA wants to build a golf course that is acceptable to both the golfers and the business folks of the golfing world (fans like it and sponsors want to sponsor it).

Golfclubatlas.com folks want to build a course acceptable to the golfers - period.  

Two different approaches, two different views.

JC

[Tom_Doak]

Jonathan:  

What would the sponsors' input on the design of the golf course amount to?  And for that matter, what would the fans say about it?

If they are stuck with the same routing for the course, the only way they're going to make it better is to build a really cool set of greens -- but they also believe they have to get the greens to 11 1/2 on the Stimpmeter so they can't have much contour in the greens.  Sounds like a Catch-22 to me!