The Turnberry Golf Course—which will host the 2009 British Open Championship—is up for sale. It’s expected to fetch 100 million pounds.

I’ll get out my checkbook.

USA Today is reporting that Mattel will offer a “Barbie Golf” set starting in November. The $40 set is manufactured by Cougar Golf—an omnipresent department store brand—and will be offered at Target.

The theory, apparently, is that it will draw all sorts of little girls to the sport.

“We know from our research that a big part of a little girl’s life is about being active, about playing outdoors,” says Juan Gutierrez, senior director of Mattel consumer products. “We believe that offering a golf club set offers a girl another option to play another sport.”

It’ll never work. They may sell a lot to fathers who dream of having their daughters play with them, but my guess is that most of gather cobwebs in garage corners.

Greg Norman has been named chairman of MacGregor Golf. According to an article in Golf Week Business,

The move culminates a leadership change that began in July when Norman and other board members relieved MacGregor CEO and majority shareholder Barry Schneider of his operational duties and began a strategic review of the Albany, Ga.-based clubmaking enterprise.

Norman’s appointment coincides with Schneider’s exit from the company. Schneider has relinquished his remaining roles and “surrendered his ownership share to MacGregor,” according to a company official. In addition, Norman has helped lead a recapitalization of MacGregor along with two existing investors. That effort was designed to strengthen the company’s balance sheet, give MacGregor greater financial flexibility and provide resources for continued growth.

Norman says that he will be involved in every aspect of the business, “from cosmetics of the products to R&D to decisions on marketing and the overall strategy of the company.”

I think MacGregor’s going to come back in a big way.

ESPN is replacing USA as the broadcaster for the early rounds of the Masters starting in 2008.

TNT reportedly also was competing for the contract. USA was not in the market. By ending its deal with the Masters, USA has completed its full-blown retreat from golf. It gave up early round coverage of PGA Tour events this year to the Golf Channel.

Given the secrecy of Augusta, it’s not surprising that terms were not disclosed. It’s fairly certain, however, given past practice, that it’s a one-year deal.

There’s a Pro Golf franchise just up the road from where I work, but I never realized that the parent company also was based in Michigan. Pro Golf has eighty franchise stores in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Ireland. I like my local store a lot—it carries not only the major brands, but also the most amazing and eclectic collection of off-brand equipment and accessories. I can spend hours browsing and not get to the bottom of it.

Now, Crane’s Detroit Business is reporting that Golf Acquisitions L.L.C., a Plymouth-based investment group, has acquired the assets of Pro Golf of America Inc.

The sale apparently was spurred when the majority owner of Pro Golf—Ajay Sports—was forced to file bankruptcy after losing a wrongful termination suit filed against it by its former CEO.

That’s just one more reason why GolfBlogger doesn’t have employees. I can’t fire myself, and if I did, I wouldn’t be able to sue.