“Golf is a good walk spoiled,” Mark Twain declared of the often frustrating game, whose modern origins trace back to 12th century Scotland and some bored shepherds knocking stones into rabbit holes. Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods certainly do not believe so.
“Lefty,” as Mickelson is known, has won $2.9 million so far this year in prize money on the PGA Tour, which is mere peanuts compared to the $38 million he earns for wearing Rolex watches, touting Barclays Bank and endorsing other products, according to Forbes. In 2008, Woods earned $110 million, a number that has been reduced by at least 30 percent since revelations of his serial infidelities became public and sponsors started running for the door.
The more than $142 million of economic impact that the United States Open Championship provided the San Diego area in 2008 is a mere pittance compared to the billions of dollars the game pries from our pockets overall. Although this year’s open will have real competition for the first time from the World Cup, the more than 30 hours of television coverage from Pebble Beach, Calif., this weekend is more than an athletic drama. Think of Lefty vs. Tiger vs. the world as a long infomercial for golf clubs, golf balls, apparel and the watches and cars that go with them. Golf is an expensive as well as a maddening passion. In 2007, Americans spent nearly $3.4 billion on drivers, putters and other golf equipment, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Economic Census.
In the current economic climate, the number of rounds of golf played in 2009 dropped by about 0.6 percent, according to the National Golf Foundation; that followed a drop of 1.8 percent in 2008. Still, “golf is bigger as a participatory sport than as a spectator one,” said Erik Bruvold, president of the National University System Institute for Policy Research. “In golf, it’s critical to understand that millions upon millions of people around the world play the sport casually, and their consumption of equipment, clothes, instructions and rounds leverage that impact.”
A $7.5 Million Purse
The best 156 players in the world are playing for $7.5 million in prize money this weekend; throughout the year, though, armies of weekend golfers make the pilgrimage to the Pebble Beach golf links. Each pays $495-a-round greens fees to risk humiliation along the rugged coastline of the Pacific Ocean.
It is not a visit duffers take lightly, and preparing to grace one of America’s most hallowed golfing grounds adds up. Clubs, for example, are the baseline expense — and Callaway’s Top-Flite XL 7000, an 18-club set (complete with five head covers and a bag) can be had for $299. The reason Pebble Beach has hosted five U.S. Open Championships? It’s a very difficult course. Players are likely to lose a bunch of balls, so perhaps it’s best to go cheap and choose a 48-pack of TaylorMade-TP Black Recycled Golf Balls for $39.99.
But no one should skimp on spikes; comfort matters. A pair of ECCO Golf Casual Cool II Hydromax Tie shoes go for $189.95. And for anyone who wants to look like Tiger Woods on the golf course (and plenty still do), there’s a pair of Tiger Woods Black Stretch pants ($110), and a Dri-Fit Drop Needle golf polo ($70) — in red, of course — from a site like the Nike store. A golfer has now invested more than $1,200 in a trip to Pebble Beach. This does not include lodging, food or taxes.
During 2008, for example, the golf-related activities in the links stronghold San Diego region generated more than $2.6 billion in revenues, according to the National University System Institute for Policy Research. That’s more than what was brought in by its legal services sector ($2.3 billion), by aerospace ($1.8 billion), by agriculture ($1.6 billion), or by the software industry ($1.6 billion).
The Torrey Pines Golf Course hosted the U.S. Open that year, but Erik Bruvold and his colleagues excluded that fact from their research, instead zeroing in on the impact of the 32 golf-equipment and related industry companies in the region, which account for $1.85 billion in annual revenues. Low numbers win golf tournaments; high ones capture the hearts and wallets of economic development folks, such as the $407.2 million generated by San Diego County’s 90 golf courses and the $191 million spent by visiting golfers at hotels, restaurants and on entertainment.
Let’s face it: Mark Twain was a helluva humorist and author, but he failed miserably as a sports economist. Americans have taken the shepherds’ game and made it their own. Who knew there was so much money to be made spoiling one good walk after another with a blasted stick and an impossible little ball?
What’s your handicap? Talk about golf, the World Cup, or any other sport, below.
