Golf Notes: R&A Relaunching Bid To Get Golf In The Olympics

Dawson Wants IOC To Add Golf To Olympic Program

The R&A is set to launch a campaign to get golf into the Olympics “after receiving assurances from the [IOC] that it will receive a fair hearing” when the program is reviewed in ’09.  R&A CEO Peter Dawson: “We were not overly happy with the process last time but we have been assured that it will be different next time and we are interested. If we are serious about getting golf to grow to parts of the world that we struggle to reach currently then the Olympics offer a great opportunity” (Manchester GUARDIAN, 7/20).

COURSE OF ACTION: Graham Brown, a longtime member of the R&A rules committee, “apparently will not be disciplined” over remarks he made as a guest speaker on Tuesday at the Association of Golf Writers annual dinner. At the dinner, which was attended by Dawson and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, Brown “made derogatory references about Japanese people and African American caddies at Augusta National.” Dawson said that no action would be taken “because Brown was not speaking as an R&A representative” (WASHINGTON POST, 7/20).

FUTURES MARKET: The LPGA has acquired the Duramed Futures Tour, which has been its official developmental tour since ’99 under a licensee role. Futures Tour President & CEO Zayra Calderon will remain in her post and also become a member of the LPGA’s senior management team. Staff will relocate from Lakeland, Florida, to LPGA HQs in Daytona Beach by the end of the year (LPGA).