A Lot on My Mind

And I want to share it with you. Read on

"Too much information running round my brain. Too much information, driving me insane.”

I’m singing that old Police song (sorry Sting) because I have a lot of information I’d like to share with you. Most of this info comes from interviews with industry people I’ve conducted lately. Here goes:

What's in a name?
I spoke with Florida-based golf course architect Bobby Weed the other day. Weed pointed out something very interesting to me that’s going on in the world of golf architecture. Weed says it has come to the point where brand no longer matters. That’s right — it doesn’t matter if it’s a Jack Nicklaus-designed course or a Joe Schmoe-designed course because both versions are suffering because of the down economy.

“I see all these courses being sold for 20 cent to 30 cents on the dollar,” Weed says. "Nobody is immune to it. This tells you that brand doesn’t mean what it used to mean.”

What it used to mean is that some filthy-rich developer didn’t think twice about paying major bucks to a big name to have that big name design the toughest and coolest golf course in town. As it turns out, that may not have been a wise business decision.

“Going forward, it could be brains over brand,” Weed says.

Doing the right thing?
Pinehurst Resort — which could be mistaken for heaven on earth — has also suffered from the recession. Bob Farren, director of grounds and golf course management at Pinehurst, told me that business was off 20 percent in 2009. No doubt that some of the downturn has to do with economics — people are watching their money. But Farren believes the downturn also has to do with people’s attitudes. They believe its detrimental to their character to be seen at a place like Pinehurst because it’s a resort.

Bob Farren

Bull feathers, Farren says.

Farren tells a story about a North Carolina utility company that canceled a weekend meeting of its employees at a local resort (not Pinehurst). The company had just raised its rates and it didn’t think that sending its employees to a resort for a weekend would look good to its customers. Of course, the company received accolades for canceling the meeting.

But Farren wants companies of such to look deeper into the matter. What about all of the employees at the resorts they’re affecting by canceling such trips? Those people range from housekeepers and bartenders to hotel maintenance workers. It’s probably safe to say that some of these people were fired or had their hours cut because companies thought they were doing the right thing. Companies might think they're doing something good, but they could be hurting people's lives in the process.

Farren has a solid point.

Cussing at work
Do you cuss like Tiger Woods when you hit a bad golf shot? I do, under my breath, but I’m not at work like Tiger is. If I cussed at work like Tiger cusses at work (the golf course), I would be reprimanded. Tiger’s continuing behavior on the course continues to prove that he just doesn’t get it. He’s in his own world.

I love what CBS’s Jim Nantz recently said about Woods after the Masters.

"If I said what he said on the air, I would be fired. ,,, Have you ever heard Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus use that kind of language? What are the parameters between what’s right or wrong?”

What are you thinking?
Finally, with mid-2010 quickly approaching, I’m intrigued to know what you think of the golf economy. Is it improving? Is it getting worse? How's business at your course?

Please e-mail your thoughts to me at laylward@questex.com.

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