The Week That Was, september 17, 2017

     Our industry’s investment in last summer’s Olympics may not be having a measurable impact at the grass-roots level, but it’s given our major stakeholders a victory they can crow about. The International Olympic Committee voted to include golf in the 2024 Games, which will be the sport’s third consecutive appearance in an event that the civilized world takes seriously. The IOC won’t extend an invitation to the 2028 Games for several years, but the handwriting is already on the wall: Golf is an Olympic sport.

     A financially troubled venue on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia is betting its future on 270 houses and a redesign by Greg “the Living Brand” Norman. Pelican Waters Golf Club reportedly hasn’t turned an annual profit even once since it opened, in 2000, and now, with its back ever closer against the proverbial wall, it’s dusted off a redevelopment plan it formulated several years ago. The club’s proposed residential development will require a significant makeover of the 18-hole layout that the LB co-designed with Bob Harrison, a course that Darius Oliver of Planet Golf views as “one of the state’s top modern tracks.” The re-do isn’t expected to begin until the second half of next year at the earliest, and it’s safe to assume that Pelican Waters can’t wait to get started. Even with the overhaul, the club thinks it may up to eight years to get its finances in order.

     Nova Scotia is home to two of Canada’s premier destination-worthy golf courses, Cabot Cliffs and Cabot Links, but many of the province’s properties are said to be struggling. The head of a prominent club believes that many golf operators will be fortunate to “break even or make $5,000” this year, and a PGA pro predicts that “we’re going to lose a few courses” over the next few years. So it’s fair to ask: Why isn’t golf’s recently created high tide in Nova Scotia raising all boats? Or, to ask the question another way, is destination golf in the province producing a “trickle-up” economic effect? And, for those who ponder such matters, do we see similar patterns elsewhere?