My slice of some current happenings this week

First Tee East Lake, Atlanta GA:

From being born into a housing project dubbed Little Vietnam, to being given full-ride golf scholarships through a partnership with Grambling State, four African Americans brothers have been awarded this tremendous gift given to young golfers in the program who demonstrate integrity, set goals and strive for success in their daily lives.
First Tee is the essence of how a successful charity can be utilized as a positive franchise throughout various communities.

Pink bats:

MLB today announced various players will use pink-colored bats this weekend to raise money for breast cancer awareness.
I think this is a great idea that could easily be picked-up on by the PGA.....players could all use the Noodle Ice balls. They have a nice pink ball that they could use.
A deal-killer though would be the players' individual sponsors' cryin over them switching brands...even for a day. Since the PGA, and its players are in the back-pocket of big money, it would be foolish to think the PGA will take their blinders off for Mother's Day. It would be too much to ask.

....and speaking of the elitist PGA:

Casey Martin has gone back to his hometown in Eugene for good by becoming the head coach of the Oregon Ducks.
I guarantee you, if Bobby Jones (in his later years) wanted to play in a PGA tour needing a golf cart, he would have been denied.

Billy Payne:

There's a new sheriff in town...and he's a Bulldog. Literally.
BTW, he is the first Georgia-bred man to chair Augusta National.

One idea on his things-to-do-list I like, is to bring back the aged-old tradition of qualifying to play in the Masters if you win a regular-season PGA tournament... thus not necessarily meeting the top money-winner threshold.

This is what Payne will bring to the table: his ability to keep Augusta privileged, while at the same time getting his arms around the problem of how to increase its huggability factor.
He will succeed in doing this because everything the man says he'll do, he does, with honors. From being the star Flanker with the Univ of Georgia football team to bringing the Olympics to Atlanta, he was born for this job.

Next week I will have the honor of playing golf at one of the most sought-after tee times in Georgia: White Columns Country Club . I hope to take pictures of this majestic tract, while at the same time avoiding glares of members wondering if I'd be better off on a course with tiny windmills and small children.

Thanks for reading, keep it in the short-grass.

JFB