I wondered yesterday if Hurricane Ike would have any effect on the Valhalla golf course. Apparently it did, but not significant.

Preparations for next week’s Ryder Cup were temporarily halted on Sunday as the remnants of Hurricane Ike swept across much of Kentucky.

Winds gusting up to 90 kph blew a television tower on to the 12th green at Valhalla Golf Club, causing minor damage, and the on-course media centre was closed as a safety precaution.

“The wind has had an effect on other items on the course but we do not yet have a full account,” tournament director Kerry Haigh told Reuters. “We will have to wait for the wind to die down before we can make a full assessment.

“We have kept everyone on the course safe and the media centre is closed for the protection of the few people who are still setting things up there.”

Asked about the damage to the 12th green, Haigh replied: “The television tower behind the green was blown over on to the green and caused a couple of small indentations which have already been corrected and repaired.”

Golf.Com has a gallery showing some of the damage. From the photos, Ike mostly seems to have made a mess of the tournament infrastructure.

Is the US team the underdog in this year’s Ryder Cup because of the absence of Tiger Woods? All the experts think so.

But here’s a thought. We weren’t winning WITH Tiger, so how much worse can we do without him?

I predict a victory for the US team this year precisely because of Woods absence. There’s such a thing as locker room chemistry, and I think it’ll be better without him. Every player there will absolutely know that they have to bear down and play tough because The Great One won’t be around to bail them out.

Seve Ballesteros says that if the Americans don’t get better at playing golf, people will lose interest in the Ryder Cup:

‘We’ve won the last three events and the domination by the Europeans is very clear.

‘In one way I’d like to see the Americans beating the Europeans because we’re beating the Americans so clearly at the moment that the Ryder Cup is losing interest.

‘I wouldn’t say the Americans don’t want to compete, but if the victory is so one-sided then people from both sides of the Atlantic will lose interest.’

Wow. Talk about locker room fodder.

I don’t know what the weather has been like in Kentucky, but if it’s anything like we’ve had here in Michigan, there may be some fallout at the Ryder Cup. It’s been raining nonstop for since Friday night and the ground is totally soaked. Premium golf courses like Valhalla no doubt have great drainage systems, but even if the ground isn’t soft, the grass is going to be quite thick. My yard is like a jungle in just a couple of days.

Thick grass. Soft fairways.

Who does that favor?

The thick grass sounds like a trap for the mad bombers. But the soft fairways should take the roll out of the shorter hitters.

In 1947, the future of the Ryder Cup was very much in doubt. The biennial event had been put on hold for the duration of the Second World War, but even after hostilities had ceased, it seemed a dicey prospect. While both PGAs wanted to resume, the British simply couldn’t afford it. The war had hit them very hard and golf was, frankly, pretty low on the list of national priorities.

It looked like the 1947 match, which was slated for the Portland Golf Club would be scrapped. But then an Oregon fruit grower and golf lover named Robert Hudson stepped up to the plate. In a remarkable gesure, Hudson offered to pay the British team’s expenses.

Hudson was incredibly generous. He not only paid for their boat and train tickets, but also for their lodging, meals, caddies and anything else they needed.

Going the extra mile, Hudson also took a personal interest in the British team. He met the British at the dock in New York and threw a party for them when they arrived. Hudson then escorted them on their trip by train west to Oregon.

And for many years afterwards, Hudson sent each of the British team members a large fruit basket for Christmas—a gift that apparently was greatly appreciated, especially because Britain remained under food rationing.

Hudson is remembered every year with the Oregon Golf Association’s Hudson Cup, which is styled after the Ryder Cup. He served on the PGA Advisory board from 1947 to 1968.

Hudson was a good sport, and I have an idea. I think that the Ryder Cup organizers should institute a medal to be given at the Cup to the player on either team who exhibits the best sportsmanship—and it could be called the Robert Hudson Medal. (I don’t think that they already do such a thing—at least I’ve not seen it in any material I’ve read on the matches.).