The Pellucid Perspective - November 2014 - (Page 18)

THE LAST WORD Untimely in so many ways O ne of the drawbacks to a monthly magazine is that frequently events transpire shortly after the monthly issue has gone to press, rendering them "old news" by the time the next issue rolls around. The abrupt termination of former PGA of America President Ted Bishop fell into that category for this publication, but I'm relying on "better late than never" and speculating on whether the fallout from Bishop's ill-conceived posts on Twitter and Facebook have any long term advisories for golf 's leading associations other than "Think about it again before you hit 'Send', stupid!" In responding to Ian Poulter's tweets regarding the selection and subsequent performance of golfing legend Tom Watson as captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, Bishop likened Poulter to "a little girl squealing on the playground" and addressed him in a tweet as "Lil' girl." When those messages went viral, I immediately thought, "Uh-oh, I don't think that's going to be a big hit at PGA Headquarters, particularly with the PGA set to host a symposium on, among other things, inclusivity in sports' major organizations including the NFL, Major League Baseball and many others." It was less than 48 hours later that I found out how right I was, as the PGA first offered Bishop a chance to resign, which he declined, and then took the unprecedented step of terminating his Presidency less than two months before his 2-year term was due to expire and relieving him of the perks typically accorded to former PGA Presidents. There is no doubt that Bishop's choice of words was ill-advised, or not advised at all in this case. In this day and age, for better or worse, any language casting aspersions on persons of a particular gender, race, sexual or religious persuasion is bound to draw flak. Celebrities representing no one's interest but their own can often get away with that type of commentary with only incremental damage to their popularity and ability to earn vast 18 The Pellucid Perspective sums of money; representatives of associations or corporations cannot. If Ted Bishop, golf course owner/operator and private citizen, had made those characterizations on his personal blog, Twitter feed or Facebook page, theoretically for distribution solely to friends or followers eager to hear his opinions, nobody would have noticed. When he is writing as the highly visible president of a diverse organization such as the PGA of America, it's a different story, especially when it appears (briefly) on the PGA's web site. Now, as the grandparent of 5 boys (and as of 6 weeks ago, 1 girl, finally), I can testify that "little girls" don't have a monopoly on screaming or whining, on the playground or anywhere else. So, on its face, calling the similarly outspoken Poulter a little girl was an unfair characterization to adolescent girls everywhere, but if it hadn't emanated from a major golf industry association officer, at a time when golf is striving desperately to expand its appeal to women, among others, it would merely have been stupid, not necessarily a slur on half the citizens of the U.S. One of the ramifications of the Bishop affair that I find sad is that, if anything, golf 's "leadership" may become even more reluctant to take a proactive stance on anything that has the remotest chance of angering or slighting anyone. (The use of the word "leadership" begs the question of whether it's even possible for any organization, association or individual to effectively "lead" such a diverse collection of golf course owners and operators, vendors and suppliers as the golf industry, but that's another column). During the first year or so of Bishop's term as President, I was somewhat encouraged by his willingness to take a position on a number of issues, especially the USGA's anchored stroke prohibition. Sadly he was forced to back down on that one when the PGA Tour bent to the will of the USGA and R&A, but he went down fighting, and even implied that PGA professionals would have the right to skirt the ruling at their own clubs in some instances. Sadly, the publicity Bishop garnered from that acrimonious conflict apparently went to his head. Having survived that defeat with a reputation as someone with the best interests of golf as a recreation and a business at hand, he seemed to enjoy being on speed dial for golf writers everywhere, and took some pleasure in tweaking what he viewed as hidebound golf traditionalists. He was an early adopter of FootGolf at his facility in Indiana, and proclaimed it a valuable addition, not competition, for his golfing business. Then, alas, it seemed that Ted Bishop was everywhere, particularly in the months leading up to the Ryder Cup in Scotland. He and Tom Watson were, it seemed, literally joined at the hip, posing for photo ops at every opportunity. Then that all went wrong. The Americans were thrashed - again - and the U.S. team didn't even make it out of the post-match press conference before Phil Mickelson started his own firestorm with his nonetoo-veiled allusions to how much better it was when Paul Azinger, with his "pod system" and player involvement, led the U.S. to its last victory. Watson was criticized for being isolated, aloof, noncommunicative, non-supportive and a poor judge of player pairings. Bishop fled the post-match press conference as if he hoped nobody would remember the role he played in Watson's selection as captain. He soon realized that they would be forever linked in the golfing public's mind, and when Ian Poulter reminded everyone of what he considered Watson's poor captaincy, Bishop snapped. Unfortunately, the lesson that social media teaches us virtually every day is that once sent, a tweet, Facebook post, Instagram, etc. can't be stuffed back in the box. Indeed, it is a modern lesson for us all, an updated version of the old KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) advisory brought up to date as Keep It Saved (in your Drafts box) Stupid. -Jim Dunlap November 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - November 2014

TOC
Can golf be further “democratized”?
Reinvention a patented success for some private clubs
C-BONS group buys 22 Walton Street Capital/Century Golf courses
The GolfBoard carving out a potential niche
Need better Internet provider? Build your own!
October golf weather impact: Slight tick up as season winds down
L.A. profits from course-building restraint
Rapidly growing ClubCorp shows positive 3rd Quarter gains
Untimely in so many ways

The Pellucid Perspective - November 2014