The Clubhouse

Following on the heels of Nike’s “No Cup is Safe” campaign which introduced Rory McIlroy as the newest member of the swoosh family, the sports equipment giant has unleashed its latest commercial touting its new Covert driver titled “Apologies”

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LEFTY OUT: Phil Mickelson plans to miss the Match Play Championship for the third time in the past four years. Coming off a wire-to-wire win in the Phoenix Open, Mickelson said he plans to go on a family trip that week seeing as his kids are out of school. He also missed in 2010 and 2012 tournaments for similar reasons. While he says he loves the tournament and Tucson, where he won his first PGA Tour event, Mickelson’s record at the Match Play event isn’t likely to make him yearn for the tournament. Lefty has only made it to the quarterfinals once in 11 appearances.

Mickelson’s decision is good news for Bernd Wiesberger of Austria, who is the 65th ranked player in the world as of last week. Only the top 64 are invited to the Match Play event and assuming everyone else decides to show up, Wiesberger would move up to take Mickelson’s spot in the tournament if he can hang on to that ranking. Wiesberger isn’t playing this week which opens the door for someone like Geoff Ogilvy (69), who is playing at Pebble Beach this week.

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WORTHY HONOUR: Marlene Streit, the most successful Canadian amateur female golfer, was among 25 people who were invested into the Order of Ontario this past week. It’s the latest in a string of deserving honours for the 78 year old Streit, who was first appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2005. She remains the only woman golfer in history to capture the Canadian, British, Australian and United States Women's Amateur championships, a distinction that earned her a place in the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004. She is also a four time recipient of Canadian Female Athlete of the Year and a two time winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s top athlete. Streit is also a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

Appointees to the Order of Ontario are chosen for their contributions to the arts, law, science, medicine, history, politics, philanthropy and the environment.

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GO BIG OR GO HOME: If you ever go on one of those road trips to search out some of the world’s largest roadside attractions, you might want to add Casey, Illinois to your list. It’s apparently home to the World’s Largest Golf Tee.

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PUTTING ALONG: Brandon Dunes, the premier golf resort in the Pacific Northwest, is getting a new putting green. A 2 1/2 acre putting green to be exact.

According to the Oregon-based “The World”, Bandon Dunes owner Mike Keiser said the resort plans to build its own version of the famed Himilayas course at St. Andrews either this winter or next.

Keiser said he got the idea when he visited Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina to check out their restoration project and was given an advanced look at Pinehurst’s new putting course, called Thistle Dhu, which will be a 15,000-square foot putting green. Keiser says the putting course at Bandon Dunes will be about 100,000 square feet, adding “It will be the eighth wonder of golf.”

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GOLF FOR ALL SEASONS: Leave it to a Canadian to come up with a winter use for a golf cart.

Dan Baker of Nova Scotia took a used golf cart, a snow blower attachment and some batteries and frankensteined them together to create the “Snowpig” - a 25 horse-power snow-clearing machine described as an eco-friendly alternative to the snow blower.

The whole project cost Baker about $2,400 for parts and accessories and to enclose the golf cart to protect against the elements. But Baker is now saving on the weekly snow clearing costs for himself and the other residents of the private road where he lives. While they were paying a contractor $80 to clear the snow, the all-electric Snowpig ends up costing Baker just 78 cents to operate.

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SLOW DOWN, SPEED UP: And finally, with the USGA setting its sights on the issue of slow play, Ben Crane is determined to do his part to combat slow play in his life.

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FINAL WORD

“I've always said it's my favorite place. People always ask me where I would like to play my last round of golf. If it wasn't a golf course by a hospital, it would be Pebble Beach.” -- Lee Westwood, playing in his first PGA Tour event of the year at the Pebble Beach pro-am

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Files from the Associated Press were used in this report