Requiem for a country club

Berkleigh Country Club in Kutztown, which for years was the home to the LPGA's Betsy King Classic, ceased to exist last week and its contents auctioned off.

Longtime member Rich Lerner of the Golf Channel, who grew up in Allentown, wrote a loving tribute to his boyhood haunt for the Golf Channel website.

Rich begins his piece:

Berkleigh Country Club died last week. It ended by auction -- pin flags, tee markers, club championship boards, hole-in-one plaques and kitchen equipment. As collectibles go, we’re not talking the ’86 Masters, but for those of us who loved the modest Pennsylvania course, it was a sad occasion.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Say it ain't so

In a crime against the game, if you ask me, a Richmond advertising and PR firm has been hired to rebrand Natalie Gulbis from LGPA hottie to...well, who cares.

Here's the story from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Rules changes

This just in from the USGA...

RULES OF GOLF CHANGES FOR 2008 SET BY USGA AND R&A

Far Hills, N.J. – Beginning in 2008, a golfer will be allowed to lift a ball for identification in a bunker or water hazard. However, there now will be a two-stroke penalty for playing a wrong ball from a hazard. In match play, the penalty will be loss of hole.

For the entire annoucement, click here.