Nuts in the News

A couple of Certified Golf Nuts found their way into Global Golf Post’s Letters to the Editor this week. The first was long-time loyal Nut Al Jamieson (#1876) weighing in on the current state of the professional game…

Inflated self-worth leads pro golfers astray

I find myself in the same camp as those who expressed disinterest in the week to week tour and will pay attention when the majors come around (“The Most Turbulent Times in Golf” January 8, GGP).

I have said from the beginning of this LIV business that golf is still a niche sport that sold the professional tours to advertisers on the story that its small audience was a very well-heeled slice of society.

At some point, golfers started to think they should command Shohei Otani or Lamar Jackson money.  It’s ludicrous, and demonstrates a total ignorance of the economics of sports. However, the Saudis have thrown a wrench in economics by their willingness to spend with no thought about a bottom line or return on investment.

I am old enough to remember baseball’s Curt Flood and what free agency did for athletes, turning the three major sports in this country into revenue sharing arrangements between management and labor.

Will golf now become a global free agent free for all?

Perhaps a younger generation will warm to team golf, music, and myriad online gambling options. 

I will continue to enjoy the game, which has provided pleasure and challenge to people for about five centuries. 

Al Jamieson

Burlingame, California

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And then some guy called The Head Nut somehow also got quoted in the same issue (Go figure)…

Past the point of no return

I always enjoy Ron Green’s columns, and based on the content, I consistently share his views on the game. In his recent column (“Finding common ground in golf’s uncivil war,” January 8 GGP), however, I sense the same attitude of resignation I am seeing in Rory McIlroy, Mackenzie Hughes and others on the PGA Tour side of the LIV debate, including the tours and others in golf’s establishment.

Vast amounts of money have not only encouraged several top-tier players to jump to LIV, but more troubling is its effect on many who have remained loyal to the PGA Tour, not to mention a softening of opposition by the PGA Tour itself and others in the golf establishment. Saudi Arabia is buying up U.S. assets, which is neither good for golf nor for America, nor is it inevitable. It is only inevitable if those in positions of power say, OK, you win. We will accept your horrific human-rights record and your totalitarian ways. We will just look the other way and point to that big pile of money you are promising. We also realize that even if we make you a minority partner, you will throw your weight around behind the scenes and get whatever you want. But we are also resigned to the fact that you will continue to recruit our players and diminish our tours if we don’t capitulate. So, how much are you willing to invest?

This makes me sad. Over this past year, I have watched less and less televised golf. There are other factors such as pace of play and the stunning number of commercials, but the overriding reason is that when I look at players now and know that what they really care about is money, and not the same love of the game that prompts me to play and watch it being played, I can’t enjoy watching it anymore.

Money is being defended as a reason for decisions, either as a motivating factor, or as a reason to fear Saudi Arabia as a threat to the game if we don’t capitulate. Neither is a good reason. We should be fighting for what we believe in, and for me that is golf’s legacy, history, and traditions, not how much money someone can use in their battle against the game’s legacy, nor how much someone receives for winning a tournament. We are in an existential fight over those priceless things, and we are giving up the fight. 

Golf will never be the same because regardless of what is written in any agreements that are ultimately signed, it is that old saying, “He who owns the gold makes the rules,” that wins the day.

Ron Garland

Prescott Valley, Arizona

(Garland is the founder of the Golf Nut Society.)