From the files of well, what did you expect? comes a new, anonymous poll of professional golfers conducted by Sports Illustrated. The survey is handed out every year (and in every sport), and the questions range from will Tiger Woods win another major (42 percent said yes), to does a caddie deserve 10 percent of a winner’s check (33 percent said no, meaning a third of caddies are working with a pretty shitty person). Then there were these questions:
If Hillary Clinton could guarantee to cut your taxes in half and the Republican candidate would keep them the same, would you vote for her?
PGA TOUR No 56% Yes 33% Don't care 11%
Loose Lips: "If you paid what I pay in taxes, you would vote for her."
CHAMPIONS No 74% Yes 14% No comment 12%
Loose Lips: "I wouldn't vote for her if she were the last person on Earth."
Should the WGC-Cadillac be moved to a different venue because of Donald Trump's stances?
PGA TOUR No 45% Yes 39% Don't care 16%
Loose Lips: "No. I love that golf course."
CHAMPIONS No 88% Yes 7% No comment 5%
When asked about the Republican primary, only 22 percent said they weren’t supporting a candidate, while about 34 percent are supporting Donald Trump—right now the national Republican support for Trump is (very) roughly 40 percent. How about the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA)?
Are you supporting Hillary Clinton?
No 44% Yes 33% No response 23%
Loose Lips: "Absolutely f------ not."
In related news:
In 2006 some 30m Americans were golfers. But since then golf has hit a rough patch.
And it is now struggling to attract a new generation of American players. In 2013, 160 of the country’s 14,600 golf facilities closed, the 8th consecutive year of net closures. The number of players has fallen to around 25m.
Why is this happening? The article above gives three reasons, but really only one of them is a serious reason.
While golf may have managed to shake off some of its elitist image, America’s troubled economy is once more making it a pursuit of the wealthy. Middle and lower-income golfers have seen their pay packets shrink, hurting membership numbers at mid-range golf courses. Some public courses have been closed by local governments making spending cuts.
Golfers throwing their lot in with the Republican Party is like anyone throwing their support behind the Republican platform these days—they are walking down a dead-end road on the wrong side of history.
Here’s actor Samuel Jackson on Trump’s “golfing.”
Here’s former boxing champ Oscar De Lay Hoya on Trump and golf.