What makes the 18th hole at the Arnold Palmer Invitational a Kodak moment?

For the second consecutive year, Kodak selected the 18th hole of the Bay Hill Golf Club & Lodge as a participant in the $1 million Kodak Challenge competition.

What makes this final hole worthy of a Kodak moment?

According to Kodak, "the Kodak Challenge was created to celebrate the beautiful holes and memorable moments in golf."

Steve Powell, Director of Development for the Kodak Challenge added, " Number Eighteen at the Bay Hill Golf Club & Lodge is one of the most historic and exciting holes in golf and is the perfect example of what the Kodak Challenge is all about for players and fans."

The par-4, 485-yard finishing hole looks simple on paper. It's straight away to a wide fairway, but that's where simple ends. The large, kidney shaped green is fronted by rocks and water, requiring a longer carry to the right half. The bunkers left of the green await errant shorts of the hydrophobic.

Tee shots on this great finishing hole must find the fairway to give you a chance to get home in two. From the tee, favor the fairway's left side. Then take enough club to carry the lake. Shots hit over or left of this green will find a bunker or heavy grass. Take deep breath and fire away.

Renovation Notes

A back tee was added to increase the hole yardage by approximately 10 yards. The renovated green is almost a carbon copy of the old green with slight modifications in the green size to accommodate an additional front pin location and middle back pin location.

Despite Tiger Woods' absence from the Arnold Palmer Invitational, it was reported that ticket sales remained unaffected. Although the media questioned whether or not Woods would defend his title (which briefly raised sales for the event) the Masters will benefit from his return.

Look for Woods' image, removed from the top banner of the official Arnold Palmer Invitational web site after the scandal erupted, to be back on the site as the 2009 champion.

This event has now become glory's last stand for Phil Mickelson who has one chance remaining to make his mark this season before having to compete with a hungry Tiger Woods.

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Should golfers searching for a new putter try the Cleveland Classic BRZ?

Walking through to the rear of the local Golfsmith store, the putting green is surrounded by about a hundred different putters. Every big name and style of putter encircle the perimeter from Cleveland, Odyssey, Ping including belly putters, flat blades as well as two and three ball putters.

How many golfers that come upon this area in their local golf shop will walk away with just the right putter?

Some may simply walk over to a putter because of its look, pick it up, feel the weight and then take it into the putting 'green' to see how the ball bounces off of the clubface.

If a few golf balls find their intended target then 'voilà' the putter goes home with golfer to try out on the golf course. If the 'flat blade' works for a golfer out on the course then it gets rave reviews and pitched to friends, family, any one who will listen. If, however, your game suffers and your putts per round increase, that new putter either gets returned, exchanged or relegated to golf bag storage.

The above trial and error is one of the mainstays in which the amateur golfer can tell which putter works as putting is definitely based on feel.

I just received another email from a golf club manufacturer, Cleveland Golf, this time urging me to try the latest Classic 1 BRZ putter, "inspired by the classics, crafted for performance". 

The new Cleveland Classic BRZ 1 putters are designed with a copper infused face insert for a soft yet responsive feel at impact and comes with its very own oil cloth to help prevent oxidation. According to PutterZone.com, "oil cloths are typically associated with high-end carbon steel putters bearing “oil can” and black oxide finishes.

Putterzone.com continued with the fact that the "finishes are much more sensitive to the elements—such as water and fertilizer—than stainless steel or plated finishes. Rubbing them down with oil adds a protective barrier to rust and corrosion."

Great, more work trying to keep my golf clubs in optimum condition.

The soft feel at impact as well as heel-toe weighting, however, may provide interest to golfers who will benefit from added forgiveness.

As it is said, 'it's the arrow, not the Indian' so the question for me is whether or not the reward of placing a new putter in my bag to possibly see an improvement in my putting outweighs the risk? Also, shelling out approximately $100 for yet another putter when my Odyssey two-ball putter does the job doesn't necessarily seem worth the investment.

On the flip side, the Cleveland Classic line of putters have earned best buy honors from PutterZone.com for the past two years and are really great looking! However, with all of the many choices in putters, don't be too quick to grab a putter from your local golf store with the hopes of improving your stroke and lowering your score.

Take your time to research the different putters on the market, find a golf store where you can feel the putter in your hands, take more than a few putts and be sure to ask about a return or exchange policy.

With golf club manufacturers eager for your business, be aware that sales is their primary concern. It is up to you to understand the market as well as your stroke.

Tiger Woods' Masters Chatter takes center stage from John Daly

Which PGA Tour event is being played this week?

Maybe this is just a rhetorical question as anyone keeping track of the PGA Tour can easily find the information but, with the internet and other assorted golf venues clogging up the airwaves with the return of Tiger Woods at the Masters Tournament, I had to go to the very bottom of the Golf Channel website in order to find out that the Transitions Championship is being telecast live today. I guess the Golf Channel must feel that "buzz" sells better than golf.

Even the mesmerizing John Daly, with his own Golf Channel presence and past indiscretions, cannot hold the attention of the public like the current fiasco which surrounds Woods. 

I wonder if Daly is happy that the press is leaving him be for the present or dismayed about his loss of coverage to Tiger?

From "The Biggest Story Ever" which claims that Tiger Woods is indeed not as "big" as the Masters itself (but his story is) to "Things We Won't See or Hear at the Masters" which is basically a litany of Tiger briefings aimed at quelling the Q & A's before they start flying, golf writers are having a field day wondering what to talk about next in order to get as much press out of "The Return" as possible.

Frankly, I'm just interested in hunkering down to my yearly ritual and watching the Masters at Augusta. Knowing in advance that this particular major is known for its southern graciousness and hospitality, I don't think it will be because of the Masters that the tournament turns into a media circus.

As Richard Roeper stated, "With Tiger's return, the 2010 Masters will probably be the highest-rated golf tournament ever -- but that still won't make it the second-biggest event in 10 to 15 years." That is, as Roeper mentioned, unless Woods has the wherewithal to levitate above the golf course and start speaking in tongues."

Let's give each tournament the respect it's due, follow golf for the sake of the sport and leave personal sentiment and proclivities behind closed doors, where they belong!

Check out the Transitions Championship this week on the Golf Channel.