The Week That Was, may 10, 2015

     Offering proof that change never comes easily or quickly, a famed all-male golf club in Ireland has laid a foundation that will eventually enable it to admit women. Portmarnock Golf Club, a fixture in greater Dublin since 1894, has embarked upon a cumbersome three-stage “consultative process” to determine how its members feel about dropping their gender bias, although it’s clear that the process is actually an attempt to build a consensus for change. “This is a sensitive issue wrapped in strong opinions,” the club’s captain acknowledged in a letter to the members, while emphasizing that the issue “has important implications for the future of our club.” Change is often motivated by fear, and Portmarnock fears losing the Irish Open, an event it’s hosted 19 times. Perceptions matter, and Portmarnock Golf Club and Royal Dublin Golf Club are, according to the Irish Times, the only golf clubs in Ireland that deny membership to women. To be fair, however, it should be noted that Portmarnock’s doors aren’t completely closed to the opposite sex. The Independent reports that the wives and daughters of members are allowed on the course on Sundays.

     Escalante Golf has placed the Crosby at Rancho Santa Fe, one of its two golf properties in California, under bankruptcy protection. The Texas-based course owner and operator hasn’t explained why or otherwise discussed the matter publicly, but a court filing indicates that the club has assets worth up to $50 million and owes between $10 million to $50 million. Escalante bought the Crosby in 2009, from an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group. The 14-year-old club, which is located within a private, gated community, features an 18-hole course that wears the “signature” of Fred Couples. The club last made headlines in late 2012, when it was accused of skimming tip money from its restaurant staffers. Escalante’s other golf property in the Golden State is Sonoma Golf Club in Sonoma.

     The sixth edition of Richard Mandell’s “Symposium on Affordable Golf” will be held in Canton, Ohio, at Tam O’Shanter Golf Course. The dates: October 12-13, 2015. Admission is free, and the Pinehurst, North Carolina-based golf architect believes that the attendance at this year’s event “should be the best ever.” The symposium’s mission: “We will continue to explore the meaning of affordable golf and how we all can learn from mistakes of the past and adopt ideas for the future.” Coming sign of the apocalypse: One of the featured speakers will be the founder of the American FootGolf League.

     In many urban areas of China, golf courses are sometimes portrayed as “green oases” that offer breathable air amid clouds of smog. Here’s how bad suffocation levels have become in Beijing, where at least three golf courses were recently closes: In periods when the pollution is especially thick, the city’s residents will be prohibited from driving on consecutive days.