I’ve speculated that The Masters would be the first tournament to go to a standardized ball, but it seems that the Ohio Golf Association will beat them to the punch.

GolfWeek is reporting that the Ohio Golf Association will use a standardized ball in the Ohio Champions Tournament this August. Golfweek reports that

Although OGA executive director Jim Popa is quick to point out that the tournament ball “is not a short ball, but rather a uniform ball,” it doesn’t take much imagination to understand what the OGA is doing.

Alan Fadel, a former PGA Tour player who has been a reinstated amateur for almost 20 years, is chairman of the OGA ball committee.

“We haven’t chosen the exact ball yet,” Fadel said, “but we are leaning to one that optimizes (distance efficiency off the tee) between 100 and 105 miles per hour (driver swing speed). The ball is not going to benefit somebody at 120 (mph) the way the current ball does. We are trying to achieve a little more equality, that’s all. The guy who swings 120 will still hit it farther than most of the other players, but not quite so far.

I have to say that I’m conflicted over this standardized ball thing. On the one hand, it does seem that the ability to fine tune the ball has given an oversized advantage to the big hitters. But on the other, I wonder if they should be penalized just because they’re good enough to take advantage of that technology.

It still seems to me that the thing to do is to narrow the fairways or let the rough grow deeper. I’ve read that four inch rough will just about force every player to try to get the ball in the fairway. The lie, otherwise, is too risky.

But this thing with the ball bears watching.

This isn’t anything like Ben Hogan’s “secret.” In fact, George Archer’s secret doesn’t have anything to do with golf.  You see, the Master’s Champion (who passed away in 2005) was unable to read. The problem went undiagnosed throughout his life, but likely was dyslexia and a non verbal learning disability.

In a heartbreaking article in Golf for Women, his wife tells of the efforts that they went through to both hide, and cope with, his problem. She read the mail and the contracts, filled out the tournament entry forms, paid all the bills, read the road maps and the local rules sheets. Archer avoided endorsemetns because he was afraid that he might have to read something; he apparently was worried that some fan would ask him to personalize an autograph.

I know a thing or two about coping with a handicap. With a “profound” hearing loss since birth, I have developed numerous defensive strategies for coping in the hearing world. Most people never realize that anything is wrong, since I have become a master lipreader (although my school-for-the-deaf-manufactured speech does apparently sound a little odd to most—but people always tell me they just thought it was a regional accent). And my life has gotten a lot easier since I’ve been married. My wife orders for me in noisy restaurants, makes phone calls and generally runs interference whenever possible.

I’m not an emotional guy (just ask my wife. It’s her biggest complaint), but the Archer story got me. You should give it a read.

I thought that reality tv was last year’s news. And I was hoping that—given how bad The Golf Channel’s “Big Break” is—that no one would try another golf reality series. But it seems that the folk at PAX television have other ideas. Starting Jan 23, PAX will be running seven episodes of a new golf reality series: The WGL Million Dollar Shootout.

In it, five teams of four golfers will compete for a million dollar prize. They’ll play in a scramble format for 72 holes, with handicaps figured in. Scoring will be kept by a point system, similar to the Stableford, in which they receive 8 points for a double eagle, 6 for Eagle, 4 for Birdie, 2 for Par 1 for bogey, 0 for double bogey, and minus 1 for a triple. Team handicaps will be determined by dividing the team total by 4.

The Masters Invitations are out.

I wasn’t invited.

Again.

I expect it will be the same next year, too.

Here’s a really sad story. An 81 year old woman died of injuries after being accidentally run over by her husband driving a golf cart. She died on their 60th wedding anniversary.

I recently ran across this November 2000 Golf Digest interview with Bill Clinton. In it, he revealed that he plays with Fat Shaft Irons.

Given what we know about his extra-curricular activities, that’s pretty funny.

And I thought I was obsessed with golf equipment.

The St. Petersburg Times has a blurb about a guy who buys 20 new sets of irons a year.