The Week That Was, june 21, 2015

     The U.S. golf industry’s customer base continues to shrink. According to Pellucid Corporation’s recently published Consumer Franchise Health report, our nation currently has 22 million golfers, signifying a loss of about 1 million over the past year and 8 million since 2002. It’s worth mentioning, as Jim Koppenhaver does in the current issue of the Pellucid Perspective, that in 2010 both the PGA of America and the National Golf Foundation predicted dramatic growth for recreational golf in the current decade. The PGA calculated that we’d count 40 million golfers by 2020, while the National Golf Foundation envisioned 30 million. Needless to say, these predictions were misleading and incorrect. Considering how deeply flawed their work is, how do golf’s leaders justify their salaries?

     To exactly nobody’s surprise, Mike Keiser appears certain to secure the financial support he sought from the state of Wisconsin, as the state’s legislators have approved a bill that will enable the town of Rome to create a special taxing district to facilitate the development of the Sand Valley resort. “The topography of Rome and its rich natural resources have the ability to make this a world-class golf destination,” a state senator said in a press release. “The Sand Valley Golf Resort will strengthen the economy of Rome and Adams County.” The bill will become law if Wisconsin’s governor, Scott Walker, signs it. Not to suggest a quid pro quo, but Keiser has previously made campaign contributions to Walker.

     Gifts of Gab, Part One: Gary Player made himself the center of attention this week by taking some cheap shots at Chambers Bay, the site of this year’s U.S. Open, but, to be fair, he also made some sensible, less publicized comments about recreational golf. “We’re making golf courses longer and longer, more expensive, more water, more fertilizer, more labor, [and] people are resigning,” the Black Knight complained during a rant on the Golf Channel. One possible solution: “We’ve got to cut the ball back for the pro golfer [but] leave it for the amateur golfer.” He added: “An average golfer playing this course, if he’s a 15 or 16 handicap, he’s going to shoot 110 and he’s not going to go home a very happy man. We’ve got to make golf where it’s quicker, where it’s more enjoyable.” But Player also left something unsaid: He was among the architects who sought the design commission for Chambers Bay and failed to get it.

     Gifts of Gab, Part Two: Gary Player variously described Chambers Bay’s Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed golf course as “a monster,” “a tragedy,” and “terrible,” but another “signature” architect had a different opinion. “It’s an awesome piece of property, and I think it’s one of the great courses in the United States,” Johnny Miller told the Seattle Times. “I think it has the potential to be one of the great treasures in America, golf-wise.”

     The premier venue in one of Europe’s top golf destinations is for sale. Oceânico Golf reportedly wants more than €45 million ($51.2 million) for Vilamoura, a resort in Portugal’s Algarve with a well-regarded collection of golf courses, including tracks that have hosted the Portugal Masters and the World Cup of Golf. A spokesperson for Savills, the company that’s marketing Vilamoura, called the collection “one of the largest and most prestigious golf course portfolios in Europe” and “a highly profitable business.” Oceânico Golf is selling five courses: the Old course (designed by Frank Pennink), the Pinhal course (a Pennink track redesigned by Robert Trent Jones), the Victoria course (Arnold Palmer), the Millennium course (Martin Hawtree), and the Laguna course (Joe Lee). The company aims to complete a sale by the end of this year.

     Another one bites the dust: At the end of this month, Bass Lake Golf Course, in Rescue, California, will succumb to the drought. “We can’t put out enough water to maintain conditions golfers expect,” the course’s general manager told Fox 40 TV. Bass Lake’s 18-hole layout opened in two phases, in 1996 and 1999. Sabrina Ho, a co-owner of the course since 2002, plans to use her allotment of water on the property’s driving range, which will remain open.

     On the eve of this year’s U.S. Open, the owners of Payne Stewart Golf Club announced that they’ve changed the club’s name. The club, in Branson, Missouri, is now called Branson Hills Golf Club. Branson Hills Golf Company LLC says that the change was made because a licensing agreement with Payne Stewart Enterprises has expired. Stewart won the U.S. Open twice, in 1991 and in 1999, and he died in a plane crash just a few months after the second championship. The parties didn’t explain why the licensing agreement wasn’t extended, and the timing of the name change could have been better.