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Golf hasn’t forgotten Big Easy
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According to Peter Carew, not much has changed in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina struck the region two years ago.
But Carew is happy to report one thing that has changed: There’s working equipment at Brechtel Park Golf Course, thanks to the generosity of the Carolinas GCSA and GCSA chapters in Florida.
In mid-June, two flatbed trucks full of refurbished donated equipment arrived courtesy of the CGCSA. The equipment arrived not a moment too soon.
“Right before (the equipment) came, our two old greensmowers were in need of massive surgery,” says Carew, superintendent for the city of New Orleans. “We tried to rent a greensmower. We couldn’t even rent one. This donation kind of saved the golf course… it’s kept us alive.”
Two greensmowers, a Sand Pro and a tractor — all newly refurbished — were among the pieces of equipment donated to Brechtel, New Orleans’ only surviving municipal golf course. Brechtel celebrated the donation with its biggest month of income since Katrina, even though the course still doesn’t have a working irrigation system.
“Fortunately, Mother Nature has given us a rain storm almost every week. The greens are filling in — they’re green!” an upbeat Carew says.
The equipment the Carolinas sent is used, rebuilt equipment. Carew says the machinery has been refurbished all the way down to the paint jobs. And he’s quick to point out that he’s received equipment from other regions, too, including a similar donation from Florida, and even a brand new cup cutter from a superintendent in Billings, Mont., who used to play the course regularly.
Billy Lewis, Class A superintendent at Carolina National Golf Club in Bolivia, N.C., and president of the Carolinas GCSA, accompanied the equipment to New Orleans. He said he was “shocked” to see how much disrepair was still in New Orleans two years later, but the reward of seeing the reactions of Carew and local golfers made it a special trip.
“As we pulled in with two trailers full of equipment, Peter pumped his fist in the air like Tiger does when he wins a tournament — that pretty much set the tone of the trip,” Lewis says.
With the Golf Industry Show heading to New Orleans in 2009, Lewis says the golf industry should make a concerted effort to help out New Orleans.
“Our country spends so much money in other spots, you’d think we’d help our own people out more,” he says. “They’ve been left behind. The golf industry should help these guys get back to golf.”
“I’m glad they haven’t forgotten us,” Carew says. “Sometimes it seems like the world has forgotten us… but then these guys come through for us, and we see that we’re really not forgotten.”
After last month’s Take Your Daughter to the Course week, as part of Play Golf America’s Family Golf Month, attention to cultivating and attracting female players to the game may be on more golf facilities’ radars — and for good reason. According to Simon T. Bailey, a consultant and speaker on customer service and business performance, women represent $7 trillion in consumer spending. Females also make 85 percent of all consumer purchases and 90 percent of all vacation plans. Within the next 10 years, 3 million more women than men will be enrolled in college. In 10 years, women also will make up the majority of the hiring population. Crocs Inc., maker of the ubiquitous, brightly colored footwear, is serving as the tournament partner for three American Junior Golf Association events. The Coca-Cola Junior Championship was held July 3-6 at Boyne Highlands Resort’s Moor Course in Harbor Springs, Mich. The Midwest Junior Players Championship was held July 23-26 at Hawthorn Woods (Ill.) CC, and the Fidelity Investments Stars of Texas Junior will be held Aug. 7-10 at the University of Texas GC in Austin. |
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