You don”t necessarily have to read a Saturday morning golf column to know that the American economy is in bad shape. Unemployment is within range of 10 percent, the housing market is hurting, the banking industry is in disarray, and with a tight-money economy, people are spending less, resulting in sales tax revenues that are decidedly down for states and municipalities.
Golf has been hit had by the current recession. During the past two years, the LPGA Tour has lost seven tournaments from its schedule. Golf is a niche sport and women”s professional golf doesn”t necessarily hold the same status as the Tiger Tour, especially with the recent retirement of the LPGA”s most noticeable box office attraction, Annika Sorenstam.
The recent ouster of LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens was the result of flawed leadership that treated sponsors, tournament directors and the press shabbily. Bivens showed next to no skill at marketing a very entertaining product, failed to build relationships with the communities that host LPGA tournaments, and when economic times got tough, she found herself without any real allies.
The PGA Tour is on more solid footing than the ladies, but it too has issues. Purses at some mid-level tourneys such as the event in Memphis have decreased from 2008 levels. The banking and automotive industries have played a large role in PGA Tour sponsorships and it remains to be seen how many tourneys will go by the wayside in the next few years.
The Quail Hollow (Wachovia), the Greater Milwaukee Open (U.S. Bank), and the L.A. Open (Northern Trust) along with the events sponsored by Buick in San Diego and Detroit could all find themselves without current sponsors. While PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is firmly entrenched in his position, there must be some lingering doubts about his handling of the Fed Ex playoff format and the loss of such tourneys as the CVS, the B.C. Open, the 84 Lumber Classic, and the International. Like Bivens, Finchem wasn”t necessarily supportive of those tourneys that had been loyal to the tour over time. The distinction is that he was able to replace them with heavy-hitter corporate sponsors prior to the recession. Bivens” sin was that she ousted events such as the ShopRite after 21 years of loyal support, only to replace it with Ginn Resorts, an event that folded after two seasons.
The tours have failed to take into account what I like to call the Green Bay Packer syndrome. Football is the only show in Green Bay, just like basketball is the only source of civic pride in Sacramento, San Antonio and Portland. Golf has a similar situation with the Pebble Beach Pro-Am located in Monterey, many miles removed from a metro area.
The LPGA Tour is a big hit in places such as Toledo and Rochester. The PGA Tour always got big support in Endicott, New York. Places such as Napa were very supportive of the PGA Senior Tour. These so-called minor markets can support golf, but they have been ignored or removed from various tour calendars, especially by the LPGA Tour. In the long run, the very players who compete at golf”s highest levels have been let down by their leadership teams. It also has been a disservice to the fans of the game.
Private golf clubs also have been hard hit by the economy. While he has had little impact in our neck of the woods, the Bernie Madoff billion-dollar ponzi scheme has severely impacted membership rosters of exclusively Jewish country clubs on Long Island, West Palm Beach, Chicago and Minneapolis. Growing up as a kid in Chicago, I always yearned to play Ravisloe Country Club, a century-old Donald Ross course. Several of the executives at my father”s corporation were Ravisloe members, but there was no way that I could play there as a guest, just like there was no way a Jewish member of Ravisloe could join my home course, Beverly. In January of 2009, Ravisloe had to react to its diminishing membership and economic problems. It is now open to the public as a high-end daily fee course.
Locally, Auburn Country Club has ended its private course status. An outstanding layout in the Sierra foothills, it too is open to the public. On the bulletin board at Tracy Country Club, memberships are being offered with no initiation or transfer fee. Just take it and play the monthly dues. Some 10 years ago, initiation at Tracy ran well into the five figures. At Yolo Fliers Country club in Woodland, things aren”t as desperate as they are at Tracy, but member postings were undercutting one another with transfer fees in the $5,000 range.
The member-only program being offered by the NCGA is a great way to play an exclusive, private country club in Northern California, one you might never be able to play. However, don”t even think that this program would exist if it weren”t for the fact that private clubs are searching for new ways to increase revenues. My son, Nick, and I have already played San Jose Country Club and Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae under the NCGA umbrella and we have up and coming tourneys at Diablo Country Club in Danville and El Macera Country Club in Davis. If our golfing budget was unlimited, you can be sure that we”d contemplate other NCGA members-only events at venues such as Lake Merced in Daly City (recent site of the State Amateur), Los Altos Hills (home of Juli Inkster ? her husband is the head pro), and Butte Creek in Chico.
Economic times are tough and folks know they have to prioritize the family budget by paying the mortgage, the energy bills and putting food on the table. Expense items such as entertainment, family vacations, going to the movies and golfing have to be put on the backburner. With that in mind, the golf industry, from the professional tours to the private country clubs and even the daily-fee municipal courses, have to creatively change the way they do business. That is, if they want to survive these tough times. Most obviously, the LPGA Tour has to take this into account, but so does the rest of the industry.
