Golf is an individual game. That's one of its attractions: Play well, get all the credit; play poorly, there's no one else to blame.That mentality hasn't worked so well on the industry's political and business fronts. A splintered approach has stunted golf's ability to promote its attributes, defend itself against critics and, ultimately, grow the game to the benefit of business and players alike.The California Alliance for Golf, founded last year as a collaborative effort of all the state's major golf associations, working to improve the sport's image."Golf has a tremendous positive environmental and economic impact, both of which are insufficiently appreciated," said Bob Bouchier, executive director of the nonprofit organization. "We want to make people aware, to tell the whole story that presents our industry and people in an accurate light."The CAG unites the state's Northern and Southern California golf associations and PGAs of America, private and public course owners, course managers and superintendents. Suppliers to the golf industry have been slow to get on board but figure to benefit as much as anyone from the CAG's effort.The new, all-inclusive voice of California was formed in July 2007 after years of informal meetings. Although still in its infancy in terms of impact, the organization is now is up to full speed. It operates out of a Northern California Golf Association office in Pebble Beach with a $500,000 budget.One of its first tasks was commissioning an independent study analyzing the statewide financial impact of golf. When the report is presented during the U.S. Open in June at Torrey Pines, Bouchier expects the amount to far exceed the $5 billion that was estimated in a 1999 report."Imagine the Monterey-Carmel area without golf," Bouchier said. "There are 120 courses in the Coachella Valley. Shut them down and see what happens to travel and real estate. We're not entitled, but the effects of golf are great, and people should know this."The ability to communicate the golf industry's environmental stewardship, particularly in relation to water usage, was a driving force in bringing factions together. People know golf courses use a lot of water, up to 1 percent of California's annual consumption by some estimates, but they might not be aware that 15 to 22 percent courses use recycled water to some degree, according to NCGA estimates. Reused water is critical to golf's future - Torrey Pines and several Monterey courses use it solely - and the CAG intends to be part of that movement.Studies have shown turf grass filters water, leaving it cleaner when it leaves the property than when it arrived, said Ted Horton, the CAG president, a representative of course owners and in charge of course maintenance at Pebble Beach from 1993 to 2001."The golf industry has done so much for others and very little for itself, perhaps because it's been fractioned," said Horton, the owner of a golf consulting firm. "That has to change."(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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