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| March 22, 2007 |
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Divot MixAs every golfer knows, no one ever lost his mind over one shot. It is rather the gradual process of shot after shot watching your score go to tatters... knowing that you have found a different way to bogey each hole. -- Thomas Boswell LPGA partners with GCSAA to add full-time agronomist The LPGA has partnered with GCSAA to add a full-time agronomist to its tournament operations team. The agronomist will assist LPGA tournament operations staff in developing consistent course conditions and serve as a liaison between the LPGA and the host facility golf course management team. The GCSAA will conduct a national search for the position beginning next month and have targeted early July as the start date for the candidate. "We announced this to the Tour members at our player meeting and the response could not have been more enthusiastic," said LPGA Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens. "We are fortunate to play at terrific venues, and having a full-time agronomist will only enhance our competitions and the stages on which we play." The position will be a GCSAA employee who will work closely with the LPGA staff and golf course superintendents at LPGA tournament sites. The desired outcome is to achieve consistent course set up conditions, such as fairway width, height of cut for roughs and fairways, green speed, etc., for the LPGA events. "We are pleased to offer this service to the LPGA," said GCSAA Chief Executive Officer Steve Mona, a member of the LPGA Commissioner's Advisory Council. "A need was identified and we have the means to fulfill it. Having a full-time agronomist will be a significant benefit to the staff and players." Duke researchers to examine Tiger Woods’ cultural impact The event, called "Tiger Woods: American Empire, Global Golf and the Making of a Megacelebrity," will be held from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Friday, March 23, at Duke University’s John Hope Franklin Center. It is free and open to the public. Panelists include Selena Roberts, New York Times sports columnist; Edward Wanambwa, editor of African American Golf Digest; Bruce Selcraig, investigative sports journalist; and Anna Grzebien and Jennifer Pandolfi, members of Duke’s NCAA championship golf team. The panel will be moderated by Hanif Omar, host of the WNCU public radio program "Fast Break." Also on the panel are Duke faculty members Orin Starn, a cultural anthropologist and a conference organizer; Grant Farred, a literature professor; and Rachael Miyung Joo, a visiting professor of cultural anthropology. The purpose of the conference is to examine Woods’ role as more than just a sports star, Starn said. "He is an important part of the American cultural landscape today," Starn said. "He’s a figure who says a lot about America -- about celebrity, the role of mass media, issues of race." Woods’ role as a black man dominating a traditionally white game, his use of celebrity and marketing and his influence on the global popularity of golf are all part of the Tiger phenomenon, Starn said. In addition, Woods’ ancestry -- a mixture of Asian, white, Native American and black that Woods calls "Cablinasian" -- "really reflects the way America is changing," Starn said. "We’re living with diversity, mixture and questions of where we belong," he said. "And golf has really gone global now. Tiger has replaced Michael Jordan as America’s biggest sports star and is one of the world’s most famous faces." NOAA offers U.S. spring outlook National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2007 Spring Outlook suggests the possibility of spring flooding in portions of the U.S. while the Southwest faces continued drought. "The National Hydrologic Assessment indicates a flooding potential this spring for southeast Colorado," said David L. Johnson, director of the National Weather Service. With the upper Midwest in the middle of snowmelt, warmer than normal temperatures in recent weeks have increased the risk of flooding due in portions of South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. High soil moisture in Ohio, Pennsylvania and extreme southwestern New York could also lead to flooding. While winter precipitation was above average in much of the center of the nation, large sections of the East, Southeast, and West were drier than average. Southern California just experienced its driest fall and winter in more than a century. "With the dry season fast approaching, there are major concerns that drought conditions will not only fail to improve but actually worsen in coming months," said Doug Lecomte, drought specialist. "The outlook for any significant drought improvement from now through spring looks grim for not only southern California but for much of the Southwest as well." The seasonal outlook calls for drought conditions persisting or intensifying through June over much of the Southwest, potentially spreading into portions of Utah and western Colorado. Drought conditions are also expected to persist across peninsular Florida. Some improvement is predicted over the extreme northern Plains as well as portions of Texas and Oklahoma. For the nation as a whole, the U.S. Spring Outlook for April through June is for increased chances of below-normal precipitation from the central Rockies into much of Nevada and the southern half of California, as well as Louisiana, eastern Texas, and eastern Oklahoma. The remainder of the country, including Alaska and Hawaii, has equal chances of above, near or below normal precipitation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. LIVE@ offers online coverage of the CA Championship Beginning Thursday, March 22, golf fans can watch some of the world's best golfers online as they compete for the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. PGATOUR.com will provide exclusive online coverage from the 16th hole on the famed "Blue Monster" course, allowing fans to watch the entire field of players take on the challenging par-4 hole. Visit http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/livegolf/ for coverage at the following times:
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