Natalie Gulbis didn't play in last week's Longs Drugs Challenge in Danville, her de facto home tournament.
She hasn't been seen in an LPGA event since Aug. 22, when she missed the cut in the Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore.
What's up with the Sacramento native?
"Have you done a Google search on her?" asked John Steele, her lead representative with IMG, the company Gulbis selected earlier this year to manage and market her.
Steele confirmed what the Internet suggested, that Gulbis will appear on the second season of "Celebrity Apprentice." Gulbis' absence from the LPGA is directly related to the New York taping of the reality show, which will begin airing in January and conclude with a 13th episode March 27.
Gulbis will be back in the swing in November, Steele said. She is 55th on the LPGA money list with earnings of $266,237 and has one top-10 finish in 20 starts this season. Without a late-season about-face, Gulbis, who finished in the top 16 in money the past three years, could be headed for her worst year in the seven since she turned pro. Her previous low was 2004 when she was 42nd on the money list.
Gulbis' supporting "Apprentice" cast has not been officially announced. Khloe Kardashian and Joan Rivers are confirmed. Tony Danza, Dennis Rodman, Scott Hamilton, Brande Roderick and Petra Nemcova are reported to be participants.
Still green at Wild Wings
Wild Wings Golf Course in Woodland remains open as a plan to stave off its possible closing by annually assessing 337 homeowners in the surrounding residential development progresses through bureaucratic channels.
The plan calls for the homeowners to subsidize water and sewer costs to the point that the nine-hole course becomes attractive to a new buyer or management group, said Lance Kolesar, a member of Save Wild Wings and a homeowner.
The exact potential annual cost to homeowners has yet to be determined. Yolo County, the Community Services Area and the Wild Wings homeowners association are working together in an effort to transition ownership away from San Jose-based Brandenburg Properties by Dec. 27.
In the face of mounting debt through unpaid taxes, water and sewer bills and what it claims to be a monthly operating deficit of $20,000, Brandenburg has threatened to abandon the course.
"Closure is not an option," Kolesar said.
The Save Wild Wings group is putting on a benefit golf tournament Saturday at the course. Local businesses are providing prizes. Golf begins at noon, to be followed by a tri-tip dinner at 6 p.m. The cost is $60 a person.
Double eagle a rare bird
Dwayn Simmons has two holes in one.
"I made one when I was 17 and one when I was 19," the 67-year-old Granite Bay resident said. "And nothing since."
That was until making a 2 on the par-5 second hole at Diamond Oaks last month. Playing the hole at 480 yards, he hit a driver to the top of the hill and a 5-wood the final 225 yards.
Upon arriving at the green, which can't be seen from the fairway, and not seeing his ball, Simmons assumed it was long. Still not seeing his ball, he assumed it was in the lake beyond the green.
"Then the other guys said, 'Why don't you come a little closer?' I did, but I still couldn't see my ball," Simmons said. "Then they said, 'Why don't you come a little closer?' until I kind of figured it might be in the hole."
Simmons assumed a double eagle is rarer than a hole in one and he's right. About 40,000 aces a year are made in the U.S. compared to a few hundred double eagles.
Call The Bee's Steve Pajak, (916) 326-5526.
