The Week That Was, august 9, 2015

     Adidas AG has lost its faith in the future of the golf business. The German conglomerate is reportedly looking to sell all or part of its golf division, which consists of TaylorMade and Adams equipment and Ashworth sportswear. The golf division represents only about 6 percent of Adidas’ total sales, but it’s been losing money of late and stands out like a sore thumb among better-performing subsidiaries with rosier prospects. Adidas bought TaylorMade in 1997, Ashworth in 2008, and Adams in 2012.

     PGA Reach, a program created by the PGA of America, says that its mission is to establish “a culture of inclusion within the golf industry,” so that “the face of the game will become more reflective of the face of society.” Sounds like a goal we should all wholeheartedly support. But a sentence in the program’s mission statement troubles me: We help drive the awareness that golf is in fact affordable, welcoming, and fun for all individuals regardless of age, gender, ability, background, or lifestyle. My question: Shouldn’t that sentence also include the word race?

     How do you define hypocrite? For the past few years, Donald Trump has been engaged in a knock-down, drag-out fight against a proposed off-shore wind farm that would be built within view of his golf resort in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. So are you surprised to learn that Trump owns stock in a company that claims to be “North America’s top producer of energy from the wind and the sun”?

     In the midst of the worst drought California has seen in 1,200 years, golf courses in the San Francisco Bay are doing a commendable job of conserving water. The area’s water provider, the East Bay Municipal Utility District, says that the 19 golf courses it serves are “much more efficient” in their water management than local home owners, a fact that will become even more meaningful if the drought continues. Specifically, SBMUD has determined that single-family houses in its service area have cut their water use by 15 percent since 2013, while the golf courses have cut theirs by nearly 22 percent. Next, California needs to figure out cost-effective ways to deliver reclaimed water to the state’s golf properties.

     For the first time in 16 years, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America is giving its Old Tom Morris Award to someone who made his reputation in golf as an owner/operator. In 1999, the GCSAA’s most prestigious honor went to Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, the much-liked Spaniard who turned Valderrama Golf Club into one of Europe’s premier golf properties. In 2016, the award will go to Herb Kohler, the bathroom-fixtures king who’s done more than anyone to turn Wisconsin into a golf destination. The parties have a close relationship, as Kohler spent six years on the board of the Environmental Institute for Golf, the GCSAA’s philanthropic organization. “We are indebted to Herb Kohler for what he has done for this association and for what he has meant to the game over the past four decades,” the GCSAA’s CEO said in a press release. “He has made an indelible mark in golf with his focus on the importance of environmental stewardship, both now and for the future.” Last year, the Old Tom Morris Award was given to Dan Jenkins, the popular sportswriter. Over the years, it’s also gone to Jack Nicklaus, Pete Dye, Arnold Palmer, Gerald Ford, Bob Hope, Dinah Shore, and others who have, in the GCSAA’s words, “helped to mold the welfare of the game in a manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris.” The GCSAA intends to celebrate Kohler’s career in February, during the Golf Industry Show in San Diego.