Gearing Up

Despite the recent snow storm it seems like we are finally on the verge of spring. With the mercury sneaking into the 60's a couple of times and golf courses drying out and starting to open, the full-fledged season can't be far away.

It's getting busier here by the week at the MGA. The phones are ringing. Players have questions about tournaments. Clubs are wondering when the handicap season starts (March 31). The economy is tough, but I think golfers are looking for something to feel good about, and that something will be getting back onto the course.

Golf has been taking a beating in the press lately, lumped into the same conversation as the financial institutions that are receiving bailout money, and some of the instititions happen to also sponsor PGA Tour events. As Golf Digest Publications Chairman and Editorial Director, Jerry Tarde, put it in his eloquent rebuttal in the March 16 issue of Golf World [It's Time For A Pause In The Action], "Golf is the baby, not the bath water." He very clearly describes in his one-page piece how much golf brings to the economic table. He even referenced our own Deutsche Bank Championship that "generates at least $50 million annually to the region."

I went to the Golf World web site to try to link his article to my humble blog piece, but it was not available. A similarly good piece in the same issue, Why Golf Is A Dirty Word In Washington, co-written by Dave Shedloski and Ron Sirak, can be found here -http://www.golfdigest.com/golfworld/columnists/2009/03/gw20090316shedloski.

The good news is Tiger Woods is back, the one-man stimulas package that our game needs right now.