WHAT IS REAL GOLF?

Did you hear Gary Player’s rant during the U.S. Open? He really let ‘er rip. First he blasted the golf course –
Chambers Bay – then he blasted modern golf course design in general. I think he was absolutely correct that too
many courses are too difficult. But, I disagree that Chambers Bay was too difficult for the U.S. Open.

The issue that Player didn’t discuss is the difference between TOUR golf and amateur recreational golf. They are
different animals. Major League Baseball and recreational softball are different animals. The problem is that people
think that PGA TOUR golf is “real golf”. No – that’s one version of golf, and it is played by professionals making
their living at the game.

Player was correct about many things – one is that you can buy a golf course for $1. I know that sounds ridiculous,
but many golf courses can’t cash flow even if they are debt free… and they have non-stop expensive needs and
repairs. Very few people can make a golf course successful now a days. And I think that the image of the PGA
TOUR is very much at the root of the problem.

What is the problem? Well, to start – people think every golf course should be perfectly manicured and have fast
greens. The cost of that maintenance is sky high – most people aren’t willing to pay that type of green fee. And,
these TOUR-type courses are too demanding maintenance-wise anyway. It’s like buying a Maserati… maybe you
can make the car payments… but the maintenance will bury you. Those courses with the intensive bunkering and
sweeping vistas are maintenance nightmares.

I’ve been reading a book by Alister MacKenzie – the architect of Augusta National. He would be flabbergasted at
modern golf course design – and horrified. This is a man who quit being a medical doctor to devote his life to golf.
He believed in the healing power of golf – here it is in his words: “One of the reasons why I, a medical man, decided
to take to golf architecture was my firm conviction of the extraordinary influence on health of pleasurable
excitement, especially when combined with fresh air and exercise. How frequently have I, with great difficulty,
persuaded patients who were never off my doorstep to take up golf, and how rarely, if ever, have I seen them in my
consulting room again.”

How cool is that? And, how sad is it that golf courses are folding because the image of the game has become that of
the PGA TOUR. MacKenzie wrote those words before televised PGA TOUR golf.

How do we change this image? I believe that golf course operators have to offer a product that is different from the
PGA TOUR, and, that the major golf course organizations have to figure it out also, and the golf club and golf ball
companies have to realize that they will be successful by not selling the clubs that the TOUR plays. I know that
they’re terrified that their success relies on selling what TOUR players use. I disagree. They should be selling what
is best for the recreational player.

Softball players use metal bats. Major League players use wooden bats. The metal bat companies are doing just fine.
In fact, most softball leagues have waiting lists. Golf could learn a lot from their example.

Not only is the PGA TOUR a hindrance to the game of golf, but ironically the USGA is too. The USGA sees golf as
fundamentally a country club game. Sure, they brought the U.S. Open to Chambers Bay – a public course. But,
really? Chambers Bay was built to host the U.S. Open – not for the golfing needs of the residents of Tacoma. It isn’t
really representative of public golf. In fact, country clubs aren’t really representative of golf. Country clubs were
places for people to make their mark socially – golf just happened to be played there. Thus movies like CADDY
SHACK that made fun of the absurdity of the scene. Were they good for golf? I don’t think so.

Young people are not joining country clubs – the social cache doesn’t matter to them. But people still need to play
golf. I can’t stand that golf courses are folding. People say to me that the thinning out will help me at Deer Run.
That’s not what I want. That’s like Dustin Johnson three putting the last hole at the U.S. Open. I don’t want to win
because someone loses. I want to see golf flourish. I’m the last one to say that I have the secret formula, or that there
is only one way to run a golf course. And don’t get me wrong – I want to see country clubs flourish also. But, there
has been too much emphasis on the wrong things. Golf is a great game and should be enjoyed by many people
throughout their lives.

Golf is not only what is seen on TV played by TOUR players. Golf is not only what is played at exclusive country
clubs.

To quote Alister MacKenzie again, “A good golf course is a great asset to a nation. Health and happiness are
everything in this world. Money grubbing, so-called business, except insofar as it helps to attain this, is of minor
importance.”

MacKenzie understood the nature and value of real golf.