"The daily fee course can help us from a marketing perspective of the game."
/Doug Ferguson poses the question of the PGA going to a true public course and gets the expected lip service from PGA of America officials, though I never would have expected the excuse. We're booked too far in advance!
The PGA Championship is booked through 2016, and this would be a good time to look at a public course anyone can play. Steranka said that is a good possibility, although such a public course might first go through a rehearsal at a smaller event, such as the Senior PGA.
"The challenge we have short-term is we are booked out so far in advance," he said. "When looking at adding a new site, we want to be able to predict with a degree of certainty that it will be able to stand the test of the top players."
Steranka said the recession has caused the PGA of America to think anew about the model it uses in finding courses and running a major championship. He noted that going to private clubs gives the PGA access to influential business leaders who might be members of the club, which helps build corporate support. That's not as easy when dealing with state or municipal governments.
"Our investment in government relations is laying the groundwork to show us a model of how to build community support outside of relying on the old model," he said. "This latest recession is making us all look at the old business model. The daily fee course can help us from a marketing perspective of the game."
And you wonder why the game's in the toilet. He gets paid way in the mid six-figures for that kind of insight? Holy guacamole.
Meanwhile, the USGA has turned their backs on Torrey Pines. It's a west coast venue, an underrated corporate community, is a great golf town and even has a ton of hotel rooms in tourist-heavy August. Granted, Del Mar Race Track is in session, which could lead to a few traffic tie-ups. And the city of San Diego has its issues like many other municipalities, but how is the PGA not jumping at the opportunity to play their event in a non-flyover state, at a proven venue with guaranteed great weather?
Oh right, they're booked until 2016.