Crowds at The Ryder Cup 2010 Opening Ceremony
A recent letter from a web company in the USA invites me to renew my ownership of the domain olympicgolfdebate.com. I’d forgotten I even owned it. Then I recalled in the Summer of 2009 when the debate got its biggest airing in the UK media I scurried to own a piece of the global debate and registered the domain. Never used it though, but I might do so now, and here’s why…
In 5 years of representing Yes! Golf throughout the world some of the most adrenaline-filled times were when a Tour player had a win using one of the C-Groove Putters and I started the process of putting out the news. Yes! was always a titch brand. When the US parent filed for bankruptcy last year the world’s media went misty-eyed with terms like the David that Slew Every Goliath in the Golf Industry. But the Goliaths could be vicious…
Unlike the major club brands, Yes! never had the deep pockets to sponsor Tour players. There were one or two loose arrangements with European Tour and LET players but few and far between. If a Goosen or a Clarke had a victory with Yes! I had to wait until somebody else reported it and gave Yes! a name check before I could do anything. Lawyers’ letters used to be sent to Yes! in Denver regularly threatening ruinous litigation for our misuse of ‘branded’ Tour players. By referencing other journalists we could be seen to be taking information already in the public domain, and thus not starting trouble ourselves.
The clippings files and Tour win lists were thankfully big enough but we walked a thin line. The major golf manufacturers (MGMs) do support the game hugely with player sponsorships and other cash injections but they do insist on getting their pound of flesh. An irritating little shit like Yes! Golf was an ongoing threat to their hegemony of the game and they liked to let us know it now and again.
The reporting on the Olympic debate in 2009 in The Times cited one of the greatest benefits for golf if it became an Olympic sport in 2016 was the funding for which the game would qualify. In his column on June 13th that year, John Hopkins reported USGA chief executive David Fay as saying: “In order to jump-start interest and support of the sport, you need money. The best way to get that is through two sources – your government or the national Olympic committee. For these countries [such as Croatia or Russia], there’s no substitute for it being an Olympic medal sport.” (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/golf/article6488776.ece )
MGMs are arguably indispensable to the sport but the sort of elitism associated with club memberships also extends to the commercial side of the game. Unchecked, the Goliaths will happily see genuine innovators like Yes! Golf butchered. If they can’t buy them, they’ll gleefully strangle them.
For this reason alone, I am happy to rekindle the debate and argue the case. In the interests of fair play and gentlemanly conduct, I would urge all lovers of the game (family, friends etc. too) to do likewise.