Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2020 - 3

EDITOR'S
LE T T ER
Where Were We
No need to despair, golf has been a bright spot
throughout the pandemic.
F
" It remains
to be seen
whether the
golf industry
can capitalize
on the game's
newfound
popularity.
Riding the
wave is not
as challenging
as retaining
the players
who made it
happen. "
or social media types,
it's
nearly
impossible to avoid seeing the 2020
memes on your feed. You know them,
darkly humorous takes on how awful the
year has been. For fans of the 1987 film, " The
Princess Bride, " one post sums it up: " Where
were we? Oh yes, in the Pit of Despair. "
For many golf course operators, who've
been busy since the governor opened golf
courses April 18 during the shelter-in-place
order, they may despair of a lack of much
needed rest, as golfers have flocked to courses
from sunup to sundown. Many new and
returning golfers have rediscovered the health
and wellness benefits of playing golf, and golf
courses, both public and private, have seen
record-breaking rounds.
Call it a silver lining, lining the Pit of
Despair.
Through August, golf rounds in Minnesota
are up about 16 percent over the same period
last year, which is remarkable given that courses
were closed for all of March and most of April.
August rounds alone were up 21 percent in the
Twin Cities, according to Golf Datatech.
In a story appearing Sept. 5, Star Tribune
reporter Shannon Prather writes that the
Minneapolis Park Board has seen a 25 percent
boost in rounds at its seven golf courses, or
more than 168,000 rounds through August.
Play at Ramsey County's four courses is up
22 percent, representing nearly $2.3 million
in revenues through July. Jeff May, general
manager at Baker National Golf Course in
Medina, believes that between the 18-hole
championship and 9-hole executive courses,
the facility will hit 65,000 rounds. May says he
hasn't seen this kind of demand for tee times
since his first year at Baker in 2000.
It remains to be seen whether the golf
industry can capitalize on the game's new
found popularity. Riding the wave is not
as challenging as retaining the players who
made it happen.
In a story out of the Kansas City Country
Club, home to Tom Watson, a staunch golf
traditionalist, Scott Michaux extolls the virtues
of a " futuristic caddie, " Club Car's Tempo
Walk Hands-Free remote-controlled caddie.
Picture your golf bag in a three-wheeled
wagon following you around the links. The
members call them " Stalker Caddies. "
No doubt, as Michaux contends, these
devices represent the future much as the
motorized golf cart represented the future
back in the Rock-n-Roll Fifties. It's no secret
that caddie programs, a once important pipeline
of new golfers into the game, were nearly
wiped out because of the golf cart.
In Minnesota, there are about 22 golf
and country clubs with caddie programs.
Although the trials and tests of the caddie
yard are a thing of the past, caddie programs
still offer invaluable life lessons for kids. Some
of the best and brightest qualify for the Evans
Scholar program, a full-ride college scholarship
to the University of Minnesota, or one
of 17 other universities across the nation.
The scholarship, valued at $120,000 over four
years, is life changing. Administered by the
Western Golf Association, more than 11,050
caddies have graduated since the program
was founded by Charles " Chick " Evans after
his 1916 U.S. Open victory at The Minikahda
Club in Minneapolis.
I have no beef if the Stalker Caddie replaces
the golf cart-walking is healthier than riding-but
it would be a tragedy if this technology
replaced the human looper with a robot.
See you on the tee.
W.P. Ryan, Editor-in-Chief
mngolf.org
Fall 2020 MINNESOTAGOLFER
3
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2020

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