Golf

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Yep. Just looked it up. He actually had three top 10 finishes.

https://goshockers.com/news/2015/6/2...623151705.aspx

[WuDrWu]

I know it is confusing how it works but there are basically 4 stages of Korn Ferry Q School (pre-qualifying, 1st stage, 2nd stage, and final stage). If you make it to the final stage you are guaranteed a conditional tour card for the year. The final stage just determines your rank. The winner of the final stage is fully exempt on the KF tour for the entire year. Finishers 2-10 in the final stage are fully exempt for 12 KF tournaments, and finishers 11-40 are fully exempt for 8 KF tournaments.

Help a brutha out here....there is a KF Q school AND a PGA Q school? Winning this Q only gets him KF exemptions for the entire year, and no automatic PGA entries? Am I understanding that correctly?

[SHOXAAC]

I think Rod Nuckolls played on the tour in the 80’s briefly. Could be mistaken.

For 5 years.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Help a brutha out here....there is a KF Q school AND a PGA Q school? Winning this Q only gets him KF exemptions for the entire year, and no automatic PGA entries? Am I understanding that correctly?

That is correct. This is only for KF tour play. Although I believe there are like 50 PGA tour spots given out each year to KF players for the following year. So getting your foot in the door on the KF tour is a huge step towards PGA Tour status. A full exemption or even an exemption to 12 or 8 tournaments means not having to suffer through monday qualifiers.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Play suspended for today because of rain. Round 3 will be tomorrow with round 4 on Monday.

[SHOXAAC]

That is correct. This is only for KF tour play. Although I believe there are like 50 PGA tour spots given out each year to KF players for the following year. So getting your foot in the door on the KF tour is a huge step towards PGA Tour status. A full exemption or even an exemption to 12 or 8 tournaments means not having to suffer through monday qualifiers.

Top 25 on KF regular season points get PGA cards. Then at the end of the season a multi tournament schedule of top 75 KF point earners and 126-200 on Fed Ex point list battle for another 25 PGA cards.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Not a good finish yesterday in round 3 for Rafa. Had a snowman quad bogey on the final hole to end up -5 overall (+3 yesterday). Still tied for 9th going in to today's final round.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Going in the wrong direction. +2 (thru 6 holes) on the day and now -3 overall and tied for 23rd.

You can stream live on PGA Tour Live which is an add on to Amazon Prime if you have that.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Terrible weekend stretch for Rafa culminating with three double bogeys and a final round 77 today in the final round. He ends the four round final stage at +1 overall and tied for 64th place. He will not be within the top 40 that are guaranteed at least eight KF tour starts this season. Not sure exactly what that means as he does have his KF card but I am guessing he will have to qualify for each tournament.

[pogo]

A couple of Golf thoughts today. Paper noted that wind was a problem at Goose Island...winds approached 25 miles an hour and kept scoring low. When I work the Wichita Open I am amazed at how many of the golfers complain about the wind in Wichita. 25 MPH winds are getting pretty good but as I tell people, If you don't play in the wind in Kansas you don't play much. On a more serious note the Wichita Golf site for public courses are soliciting thoughts on the privatization of the public courses in Wichita. Most of the comments bring up the large debt the city incurred in building Auburn Hills and the financial drain it causes on the whole system. I have little background on that but I have heard it brought up at various times. I do see no merit in having a company come in and manage it and adding another layer of "management" which would ultimately raise fees /green fees. As has been pointed out the golf courses are the only entity in the parks system that actually makes money which then goes into its general fund to help fund the other projects in the system and only a portion of which is used to fund improvements in the courses themselves. Supposedly the city only wants to mitigate their exposure to liability at the courses but it looks like it ultimately will reduce city employees and can show budget cuts by their elimination. The city Ice Arena is a very good example of the move towards privatization of city owned properties. Maybe all of the courses would benefit from having a Genesis health club on site. I'm sure Shoxaac has a better grasp of what is going on on this subject. Sorry for the rant Go Shocks

[SHOXAAC]

A couple of Golf thoughts today. Paper noted that wind was a problem at Goose Island...winds approached 25 miles an hour and kept scoring low. When I work the Wichita Open I am amazed at how many of the golfers complain about the wind in Wichita. 25 MPH winds are getting pretty good but as I tell people, If you don't play in the wind in Kansas you don't play much. On a more serious note the Wichita Golf site for public courses are soliciting thoughts on the privatization of the public courses in Wichita. Most of the comments bring up the large debt the city incurred in building Auburn Hills and the financial drain it causes on the whole system. I have little background on that but I have heard it brought up at various times. I do see no merit in having a company come in and manage it and adding another layer of "management" which would ultimately raise fees /green fees. As has been pointed out the golf courses are the only entity in the parks system that actually makes money which then goes into its general fund to help fund the other projects in the system and only a portion of which is used to fund improvements in the courses themselves. Supposedly the city only wants to mitigate their exposure to liability at the courses but it looks like it ultimately will reduce city employees and can show budget cuts by their elimination. The city Ice Arena is a very good example of the move towards privatization of city owned properties. Maybe all of the courses would benefit from having a Genesis health club on site. I'm sure Shoxaac has a better grasp of what is going on on this subject. Sorry for the rant Go Shocks

As a golf commentator myself I find humor in talking to world class golfers who think a 10 mph wind velocity is considered windy. I consistently state "We don't call it windy unless unless it registers 20 mph, or Pogo sways when he marks his ball (sometimes he sways due to the high concentration of octane in his Mountain Dew). The city leaders are exploring the idea of the First Tee program of Greater Wichita to help manage and operate the four city golf courses. The move is intended to save money for the city. The city would retain ownership of the properties and lease those four properties to First Tee. First tee would then develop a plan to generate the requisite funds to improve the courses and provide a certain level of "high" quality experience. Well, here in lies the problem the city golf courses have had for as long as I have been involved with golf in this community. What our city fathers have never embraced is that golf is a discretionary income activity. In other words the potential recreational golfer has several choices. Do I play golf, go bowling, fly my drone, clean the garage, go to the bar, go see my folks, or fix my wife's sewing table I have promised for months now. If my multiple choice exercise points me in the direction of playing golf I have another choice. Do I play at Sim, Tex, Mac Park, Auburn Hills, Sand Creek Station, Pine Bay, Hidden Lakes, etc...I can choose at my discretion. The problem with utilizing discretion is not one of those courses, although Sand Creek is the closest, have ever given me a reason to be loyal to them. Customer service is below average at best. My good friend Rick Nuckolls once shared with me that training for a PGA member (to be a course golf professional) does not include customer service. It includes many things like merchandising, budgeting, tournament management, etc...It does not include the rudimentary component of taking care of the customer. The champion businesses that get, understand and implement a customer experience strategy will always come out on top. As it pertains to the municipal golf courses in Wichita their strategy is "Build it and they will come." The reason Auburn Hills (as well as the other 3) isn't thriving is their customer experience is sub-standard. This golf course should be the gold standard of public golf in the state of Kansas. It is a phenomenal golf course, although very challenging. There is no "warm and fuzzy" feeling at all when you pull in the parking lot, throw the strap of your bag around your shoulder, walk through the pro shop doors and slap a couple of 20's across the counter. People want verification their hard-earned money deserves to be spent there. I could go on, but I have already bored you all to tears. I don't know if my rant is a "better grasp" that Pogo promised, but it is the best I can do at this time.

[pogo]

Well my expectations for customer service is probably different from others on this subject. I have found the city course managers proactive in trying to provide good customer service. I expect to have carts clean and in good repair if I need one. Trained and friendly staff and enough staff on hand to accommodate not only check in but also to get a gator ade in a timely manner if I need one. I expect the course to be in good repair with tee boxes and greens in good order. Dead and dying trees removed and low hanging branches trimmed. Bunkers in good shape since I seem to enjoy playing from there alot. I also would like to have a comfortable club house atmosphere where I can enjoy an after golf beverage and perhaps a limited hot menu selection. The staff and greens keepers at the city courses do a very good job with what they have but there is room for improvement and that will take money. As far as swaying while marking my ball it is by design in that I always improve my lie on re-placing my ball.

[SHOXAAC]

Well my expectations for customer service is probably different from others on this subject. I have found the city course managers proactive in trying to provide good customer service. I expect to have carts clean and in good repair if I need one. Trained and friendly staff and enough staff on hand to accommodate not only check in but also to get a gator ade in a timely manner if I need one. I expect the course to be in good repair with tee boxes and greens in good order. Dead and dying trees removed and low hanging branches trimmed. Bunkers in good shape since I seem to enjoy playing from there alot. I also would like to have a comfortable club house atmosphere where I can enjoy an after golf beverage and perhaps a limited hot menu selection. The staff and greens keepers at the city courses do a very good job with what they have but there is room for improvement and that will take money. As far as swaying while marking my ball it is by design in that I always improve my lie on re-placing my ball.

I respect that Pogo. What I am talking about is giving discretionary effort. The standard should be to have clean carts in good repair, staff that will properly check me in, and provide a refreshment in a timely manner. That is the problem in business America today. That standard is considered good enough. It shouldn't be. Discretionary effort is up and beyond the standard. I believe in the Maya Angelou template to serving people. "I might not remember what you did or what you said. I will however remember how you made me feel." I believe in that whole-hardily. Make significant eye contact when I walk in. Thank me for choosing to be here in a genuine and authentic tone. Ask me how my game is. Ask me if you can get me anything else. Ask if I need range balls to warm up before I shoot my best score of the year. Show me you give a crap that I am here today. Making people feel welcome can be the easiest way to bring people back to your course. I received this type of treatment recently on a golf trip I went on. After my round the person that greeted me asked if I shot the best round of the year today. Well, I didn't. He responded "Well let's get you back here soon, because you have a bone to pick with the course. He said it with some humor and some conviction. I can't remember the exact words, but I know how it made me feel. My friends and I are returning to that golf course in the spring because of how they made us feel.

[pogo]

I didn't even receive that kind of treatment at my former golf club of ten years. And who are these "friends" you refer to? Asking for a friend.

[WstateU]

I'll just post this in the "Golf" thread... interesting.

"Mickelson is definitely considering playing in the proposed Saudi Arabia-backed, Greg Norman-led golf league that would rival the PGA Tour. Norman and LIV Golf Investments is funded by the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund. Saudi Arabia has been harshly criticized for its human rights record and the country is among the top executioners in the world; people are put to death annually, some in public beheadings."

Phil Mickelson considering other playing opportunities due to PGA Tour's 'obnoxious greed' (msn.com)