Isaac
Years ago
NH: Dramas in Australian golf
Not quite a feel-good story for basketball, but it's nice to know (in some way) that at least we're not the only ones struggling with management and corporate sponsorship.
This from Crikey:
The once-thriving sport that rode on Greg Norman's coat-tails through the 1980s and 90s, that used to proudly boast about its huge participation numbers, that once featured a dozen or more professional tournaments each summer, is in disarray.If they're the red-headed stepchild, what does that make basketball?
The departure this week of Golf Australia's chief executive Tony Hallam, 18 months before his contract was due to expire, has resulted in a raft of recriminations and bickering, and confirmed the suspicion that golf has become the red-headed stepchild of Australian sport.
So dire is the situation that the Australian Open, once described as the "fifth major" because it routinely attracted players of the calibre of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer each year, is without a major sponsor and, according to some, in danger of not going ahead this December. For the first time (wars aside) since 1904.
The Australian Women's Open is also looking for a major sponsor. The Australian Masters, a fixture on the calendar at Huntingdale for the past 30 years, this year lost Mastercard as its main backer and its future, too, is under a cloud.
