Scarboro recovers from the flood and Palmer in Toronto

• Interesting to see that Scarboro has recovered from the flood of a few weeks back. I had a chance today to see the course and all things considered, it has come along nicely. Remember that Donalda, a marginal private club in mid-Toronto, has had to close for the year.
  
• So Arnold Palmer was in Toronto earlier this week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first win, which happened at Weston Golf and Country Club. Now I'm as interested in Palmer as the next guy, having read James Dodson's biography and having met the man on a couple of occasions. And Weston has made a nice resurgence after a great bunker job by Carrick Design's Ian Andrew. Ian found out the bunkers were actually not done by the course's designer, Willie Park Jr., because he became ill and had to go back to England. The bunkers were actually done by Charles Allison, which is the style Ian chose. Anyway, I decided not to write on the Palmer event for the Post because it had "media sponsors," namely the Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star, which really put me off. Palmer didn't play -- just hit a couple of balls -- but he did do an big interview with the Globe and the Star -- and not the Post. Now I understand why an event must have sponsorship, but I think it is wrong that a sports event becomes co-opted by one or two organizations. What's next? At the Bell Canadian Open maybe only reporters from Bell Globemedia, CTV and the Globe, will get the right to interview the players. All other reporters will get a chance to speak with the clubhouse leader the next day. Anyway, I thought this was quite ridiculous, so I didn't bother to take the time to go down to Weston. I'm sure Arnold didn't miss me. If you care, here's a good Mike Grange piece from the Globe about Palmer.