Posted: 04 Mar 2011 08:40 AM PST

By Tales Azzoni, Associated Press

SAO PAULO — The golf world is starting to pay attention to the land of soccer.

With Rio de Janeiro preparing for golf's return to the Olympics after an absence of more than 100 years, some of the sport's top names are starting to show an interest in Brazil, especially in the opportunity to design the course that will host the historic tournament at the 2016 Games.

Robert Trent Jones Jr. visited Brazil this week and secured a spot in the race to build the course, joining a field that includes Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman and others.

"I've been a longtime Olympic activist and obviously was very happy golf rejoined the games," Jones told The Associated Press while in Brazil. "We want to be part of it, it would be a wonderful thing."

Golf made its debut at the second modern Olympics in Paris in 1900, but was dropped after the 1904 games in St. Louis. The sport was returned to the Olympic roster by an International Olympic Committee vote in 2009 that also guaranteed it a place in 2020, but its participation beyond that will largely depend on an IOC evaluation after the Rio Games.

"The game of golf is in Brazilian hands," said Jones, who formed a partnership Wednesday with retired Brazilian golfing great Mario Gonzalez to vie for the Olympic course design work.

Norman will team up with Lorena Ochoa, and Nicklaus announced last year that he will join forces with Annika Sorenstam. Both served as "global ambassadors" during golf's successful bid to be part of the Olympics. Nicklaus would handle the championship tees for the men's tournament and Sorenstam for the women's.

"We have dozens of designers interested in this course, the international reaction has been great," said Paulo Pacheco, the Brazilian golf confederation's vice president of marketing. "I think it's even possible that one of these designers will offer their work free of charge just because of the importance of having their name associated with this historic tournament."

The course designer will be chosen in a process that will involve the International Golf Federation and the Rio 2016 organizing committee.

Brazilian Olympic organizers and local officials are in the final process of choosing the course's location, and the decision may be announced within two months, before IOC officials arrive in Rio for an Olympic project review in late April.

Though it's possible an established private course could be renovated, it's likely a new course will be built in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood of Rio, where most sports will be played during the Olympics, Pacheco said.

"Once you make the decision on the land, it takes about two years to build the course, then another year of preparations," Jones said. "If construction starts by January 2012, the course would be ready by 2015."

Officials want a public course to help boost the sport locally and develop it after the Olympics. Besides the course, organizers also want to build training academies and schools to develop golf professionals. Brazil currently has only one player in the PGA Tour, Alexandre Rocha.

"A public course will make all the difference to the growth of the sport in Brazil," Pacheco said. "It would help attract more people to the sport and would also become an important tool for social inclusion."

Among the private courses that could be upgraded, one option would be the Itanhanga Golf Club, which hosted a European Tour event in 2000 and will be home to the HSBC LPGA tournament in May. The Gavea Golf and Country Club also would be available, although many changes would be needed to accommodate a high-profile event such as the Olympics.

Brazilian golf officials want to bring other high-profile events to the country ahead of the Olympics, and there is a chance the Presidents Cup will be played in Rio in 2015.

Local governments will handle the cost of building or revamping a course for the Olympic competition, which will consist of a 72-hole stroke-play event for men and women, with 60 players in each field. Golf officials have promised the IOC they will not stage any major championships on the dates of the Olympic tournament.

Though golf has grown in popularity in Brazil, it remains an elite sport in the soccer-mad nation, where there are fewer than 30,000 golfers and just over 100 courses. The only true public course is the nine-hole Japeri Golfe Clube in Rio de Janeiro.

There is hope the Olympics will change that, helping attract more courses and making the sport more popular, changing the perspective many Brazilians currently have about the sport.

"The Olympics will show that golf is not a pastime for the older generations," Jones said. "It's a sport for the young people of the world."

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Comment Is Free But Freedom Is Slavery - An Exchange With The Guardian's Economics Editor.

Golf cart bills move through General Assembly

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 12:05 AM PST

RICHMOND – Golf carts aren't just for carrying golfers and their clubs down fairways. In towns such as Colonial Beach, the vehicles carry residents and tourists down public roadways as well.

The motorized carts are a form of alternative transportation for short distances – and can be more fuel-efficient and cheaper to maintain than automobiles.

Under two bills making their way through the General Assembly, more golf carts soon could be tooling along public roads in Virginia.

Last week, the Senate unanimously approved HB 1972, which would allow the state Department of Conservation & Recreation to drive golf carts and utility vehicles on state roads inside and immediately adjacent to state parks. The bill restricts the vehicles to roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less.

Delegate Roxann Robinson (R-Chesterfield) sponsored the bill. It had previously cleared the House, 98-1.

Robinson said the bill would help the DCR operate more efficiently. HB 1972 "will simply downsize the vehicle they will use to perform their job within state parks," she said.

That is not the only golf cart-related legislation on the move.

Last week, the House of Delegates voted 98-0 in favor of SB 871, which would clarify when golf carts and utility vehicles may cross highways in Colonial Beach, a town of about 3,500 residents in Westmoreland County in Virginia's Northern Neck.

SB 871 was sponsored by Sen. Richard Stuart (R-Montross). He represents Westmoreland County and eight other localities.

Under existing law, golf carts and utility vehicles may be operated only on designated public highways where the posted speed limit is 25 mph or less, and they may cross a highway at an intersection controlled by a traffic light only if the highway has a posted speed limit of no more than 35 mph.

Stuart's bill would remove the 35 mph restriction for golf carts and utility vehicles crossing roadways in Colonial Beach. Instead, in Colonial Beach, such vehicles could cross any highway at an intersection marked with a golf cart crossing sign posted by the Virginia Department of Transportation.

In January, the Senate also had unanimously approved SB 871. The House action now sends the bill to Gov. Bob McDonnell to be signed into law.

Colonial Beach is a golf cart community, according to its Chamber of Commerce. Residents and visitors often drive the motorized vehicles on public roads as well as on the boardwalk along the Potomac River. People can rent golf carts and low-speed vehicles to get around town.

"The carts are 'dressed up' and seen everywhere," the chamber's website says.

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of vagazette.com. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited, Posts that contain such will be removed. Repeat offenders may be barred from posting comments.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Comment Is Free But Freedom Is Slavery - An Exchange With The Guardian's Economics Editor.

Tampa Bay Golf Tour

Posted: 02 Mar 2011 05:31 PM PST

Times staff
In Print: Thursday, March 3, 2011

Tampa Bay Golf Tour

Tampabay.com/golf is a guide to public courses in the bay area. More than 70 regulation and executive courses are listed, broken down by county and price range. The site also has a video review of each course. This week's featured courses: Heritage Harbor Golf and Country Club, Hernando Oaks Golf Club, Beacon Woods Golf Course, Dunedin Country Club, USF Golf Course, and Chi Chi Rodriguez Golf Course.

Ratings of the day

The Golf Channel averaged 771,000 viewers for its three days of coverage of the WGC-Match Play Championship, up 84 percent from the previous year. NBC said it had an average of 2.5 million viewers for its weekend coverage, up from 1.5 million a year ago when it was on CBS while NBC was in Vancouver for the Olympics.

Number of the day

4 European players now ahead of Tiger Woods, left, in the Official World Golf Ranking. Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell are the top four players, the first time European players held the top four spots since March 1992.

[Last modified: Mar 02, 2011 08:25 PM]

Golf Zone

Friday, March 4, 2011

“With Olympics coming, golf world turns to Brazil” plus 2 more

“With Olympics coming, golf world turns to Brazil” plus 2 more

By Tales Azzoni, Associated Press

0 comments:

Post a Comment

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

Popular Posts