Something strange happened toour game in 2009. When U.S. Rep. BarneyFrank (D-Mass.) criticized Northern Trust forentertaining clients at a tournament, golf becamea four-letter word for all that's wrong with BigBusiness, and glib shorthand for greed and classwarfare.
Unfair? You bet! However, if we want torestore golf's reputation as the sport of gentlemen(and gentlewomen), we have many problems andpreconceptions to overcome.
The first is the beliefthat the game is exclusionary and elitist. The PGATour needs to take the lead on changing hearts andminds on this point.The Tour is looking at sponsorship difficultiesthat have never happened before. In the past whenone depressed segment of the market pulled out ofthe PGA Tour, there wasalways another sector thatwas growing and couldmove in as a replacement.
Not now. Everyone isdown, and spending ingolf is seen as a very badcorporate idea when peopleare being laid off.
We needto have an immediate 10percent rollback in pursestructures. Of that rollback,5 percent should go to local charities of the eventand 5 percent should go back to the sponsor.
The Tour is fond of two words: partners andcharity, and both need some help, a lot more thanTiger Woods needs another $10 million. If we canhighlight the Tour's good charitable work and makesome short-term concessions to the sponsors, thenmaybe we can change the perception that golf isa rich guy's game isolated from the concerns andproblems of regular working people. Because golfis the game of regular working people, as you cansee every day at your local muni.
Chivas pleased with effort in regular season finaleChampions Tour adds event in Mississippi
