The Pellucid Perspective - November 2012 - (Page 17)

THE LAST WORD 4 more years – whither goeth golf? D uring a visit to the Crittenden Golf Conference in early October (once again disproving Thomas Wolfe’s adage that you can’t go home again, given my past connections with that conference), an unusual moment occurred during the conference’s opening keynote address featuring multi-course operators Eric Affeldt (ClubCorp), Jim Hinckley (Century Golf Partners/Arnold Palmer), Joe Munsch (Eagle Golf ) and Bob Husband (Heritage Golf Group). Toward the session’s conclusion, ClubCorp’s Affeldt called for a show of hands among the attendees regarding their Presidential preference. Perhaps not surprisingly, especially since the conference was in Dallas and had a sizable contingent from the Texas golf “bidness” community, the rough eyeball count showed at least a 5-1 predominance of red state Romney supporters. Affeldt stopped short of actually stumping for Governor Romney, merely urging attendees to get out and vote in an election of unparalleled importance, although his presumed status as a member of the one-percenter bracket left little doubt which ticket he favored. Given the results of Nov. 6, and the conference straw vote, I have to assume that many golf course and golf company flags were at half-mast on Nov. 7. Golfweek Editor Brad Klein tackled the election results issue in that magazine recently, basically urging that the golf industry (and, presumably, the US electorate in general) focus on the key issues facing the country and golf, rather than the individuals who won office and their political affiliations. Brad holds a doctorate in Political Science, while I can only claim one of two undergrad degrees in that field (the other, shocking to some of you, no doubt, is in Journalism), but I fully agree with Dr. Klein. Given that the Republican Party still controls the House of Representatives, and that President Obama’s victory is to some degree a matter of the lesser of two evils rather than a convincing mandate, it’s doubtful that sweeping economic legislation changes will be enacted during the next four years. Rather, we should hope that the two parties will work together to build on the slight upticks in the US economy during recent months (unemployment, new jobs, housing, the auto industry, the stock market, etc.) and take whatever steps necessary to avoid the “fiscal cliff ” and keep the economy from backsliding again. Hopefully, now that the avowed number one goal of some Republican candidates – making sure that President Obama didn’t get four more years – has gone by the wayside, the two parties can throttle back the rhetoric and concentrate on the greater good for the country. During my visit to Dallas, a Texas golf industry acquaintance actually equated the President with Adolph Hitler! I’m not ready to include the current and future President among the pantheon of America’s greatest leaders just yet, but folks, that’s just wrong, and counter-productive. The one factor that it is not a result of President Obama’s victory, but quite obviously contributed mightily to it, is the changing ethnic makeup of this country. The President gained a huge majority among both black and Hispanic voters, who turned out in large numbers, and in the case of Hispanics, will be an increasing presence at the polls in the coming years. Another group where the President scored (no, Tiger, not that way) was single women. As Dr. Klein notes, the message there for golf is that our sport must somehow crack the code of The one factor that it is not a result of President Obama’s victory, but quite obviously contributed mightily to it, is the changing ethnic makeup of this country. making the game more inclusive for both minorities and women. (In the short term, however, our publisher, Jim Koppenhaver, counsels that courses should continue to try to find ways to out-market and otherwise steal their competitors’ existing old white customers ). Climbing down from the soapbox for a moment, there were some interesting sidelights to this year’s elections with possible ramifications for golf. For instance, in Maryland and the other states which have now legalized gay marriage, will your local club’s Scotch Foursome or couples tournament now feature a team of Bruce and James, or Elaine and Susan? If you play golf in Colorado or Washington, will you need to worry about a contact marijuana high causing you to flunk a drug test at work the next day? In California, the (so far) successful fight by golf industry lobbying groups to keep golf fees safe from state sales taxes will take on added importance with the passage of Proposition 30, raising sales taxes to help pay for California’s financially strapped schools. To quote the late and in many ways largely unlamented Rodney King, can’t we all just get along? —Jim Dunlap The Pellucid PersPecTive www.PellucidcorP.com 17 http://WWW.PELLUCIDCORP.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - November 2012

The Pellucid Perspective - November 2012
Table of Contents
Are you missing your calling?
A tale of two cities
Debit or credit? Save either way
Tucson municipal courses at risk
Economy, discounting pressure challenge Tucson market
October golf weather impact: Giving back some of our season gains
TopGolf proposal for takeover of El Segundo range operation encounters opposition
4 more years – wither goeth golf?

The Pellucid Perspective - November 2012