Michigan Golf Journal December 2020

Golf is R esilient – Let’s hop in the time machine and journey all the way back to the bleak days of March. Shutdowns were happening in every sector of life, including golf. The entire industry – and at $4 billion per year in Michigan, golf IS an important industry – was reeling from the prospects of possibly being put in mothballs. Now, fast forward to December. There are masked smiles on the faces of exhausted course owners, operators, PGA Professionals, and super- duper Supers following a year where tee times were frequently impossible to secure, equipment sales shattered records, and the demand for instruction kept many teaching tees occupied from sunrise to dusk. The hunger for our safe, socially distant sport reached levels only dreamed about until a pandemic came along and reminded everyone that there is no better place to be than on the course. Golf is A daptable – When the PGA Tour announced there would be no fans at the Rocket Mortgage Classic they worked hard to overcome that loss of ticket revenue and were still able to deliver over $2 million for charity while still somehow finding the resources to feed the daily caloric requirements of the 2020 Champion, Bryson DeChambeau. On the amateur level, the Golf Association of Michigan continued its tradition of hosting a full calendar of tournaments for players of every skill level. They not only pulled it off but did so with excellence. On the wider spectrum of public golf, the challenges were magnified. From spacing out tee times to creating more outdoor dining space to running tournaments in new and improved ways, there is a huge tip of the cap in order for the obvious (and behind the scenes) adaptability shown across the board. Large gatherings, double shotgun charity outings, member/guest weekends – every aspect of the golf experience had to be examined and reshaped, revised, and rescheduled. Bill Hobson 15 December 2020 www.michigangolfjournal.com Continues on next page >>