Two of four courses now out of bounds
Little Rock’s War Memorial golf course closed Thursday. Another municipal course, Hindman, shut down June 28.
The reason? Budget cuts, the city says—can’t afford to maintain four courses (the other two being Rebsamen and First Tee).
Probably true, but there’s a more compelling reason: Tiger Woods.
Tiger brought glamour, personality and excitement to a previously staid pastime when he went pro in 1996. Those of us who appreciate the idea of a celebrity who can actually do something, and stand for something, were crazy about Tiger.
We started watching golf tournaments that featured Tiger on TV.
Better-funded fans bought tickets to tournaments at upscale courses like Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach and Augusta and Kapalua, traipsing around behind the likes of Greg Norman and Tom Watson and Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples— all superstar players—yet hoping to get a glimpse of Tiger, especially during the final rounds when he would wear a beautifully fitted red polo shirt (his mom’s idea; she told him red is his power color).
And some of us decided to take up golf. I was one of them.
It happened in the midst of Tiger Fever in the late 1990s. My Uncle Arnie, who I don’t recall ever speaking to me unless necessary, died and left me $15,000 (my siblings and cousins got more, but I got what I deserved, being as I seldom spoke to him either).
This unexpected windfall deserved to be frittered away. First purchase: A 1996 Subaru Impreza (for me). Next, because of our Tiger obsession and my husband’s casually mentioned history of playing golf in high school: golf clubs.
Never mind that Philip didn’t reveal that he was a really, really good player in high school. If I had realized that, I might have chosen to bankroll a time-consuming indulgence that I was good at, like horseback riding.
Despite hours of instruction by Philip and teaching pro Petey King (son of renowned sports writer Harry King), I never got the hang of hitting down on the ball. Playing poorly isn’t very reinforcing, so after a couple of years’ effort (the high point was playing a halfway decent nine-hole round in Solvang, Calif., with MLB legend Al Gionfriddo, best known for making one of baseball’s most famous catches in the 1947 World Series) I gave up.
But I didn’t give up on Tiger, or on watching golf on TV.
In 2013 we paid $100 each to serve as volunteers at Alotian, Warren Stephens’ high-profile course in Roland, during the 2013 Western Amateur—it was the only way to get a look at this exclusive facility. We barely made the cut; despite that fee, the call for volunteers was quickly filled. My role was to do hardly anything; Philip served as a marshal, which made him very happy.
This year the going rate to volunteer for Alotian-hosted Arnold Palmer Cup was $50. We didn’t bother. And although Philip is still playing, many aren’t.
According to a 2017 story in Talk Business and Politics, the number of golf courses across the U.S. is shrinking because the number of players is declining. The industry, the story reports, is going “through a period of ‘natural correction’ following a 20-year period of the most dramatic growth in the game’s history, which many industry experts cite as the Tiger Woods era.”
And although setback-plagued Tiger has returned to the fold (he won the Masters for the fifth time in April), he’s not the charismatic face of the game that he once was.
Besides, many of us who spent time (four-hour rounds), money (clubs, bags, shoes, balls), and seemingly endless hours of study and practice trying to conquer the weird dynamics of the game (being fit doesn’t necessarily translate into wielding a driver with any accuracy) finally got tired of paying greens fees to frustrate ourselves.
A decline in players doesn’t bode well for course maintenance. Golfers have long complained about the shabby condition of Hindman (a beautiful drama queen of a course) and War Memorial (you can’t expect much of a facility that allows RVs to park on its turf for tailgating during Razorback football games).
Little Rock spent about $2.6 million to support its four golf courses in 2018, and the courses made around $1.4 million in revenue, according to numbers provided by the city. That led to the decision to concentrate on Rebsamen and First Tee and think about repurposing.
Visions for Hindman include mountain bike trails and a disc golf course; War Memorial might get climbing walls, ball fields, a skate park, a dog park and an expansion of the Little Rock Zoo.
Public input is being gathered before any decisions are made (a survey is available at littlerock.gov/ parksurvey). But that might not do much good. Here’s what Will Cohen, who recently moved to North Little Rock from Little Rock, wrote in a recent letter to the editor:
“I always felt Little Rock city directors perceived the citizenry as nothing more than a nuisance. And now, while not being a golfer, I watch as Little Rock politicians decide their mismanaged budget must result in job losses as well as the closure of two public golf courses.”
Those politicians, he wrote, “never considered raising greens fees [weekday greens fee is $17 at War Memorial, $18 at Hindman, and $23 at Rebsamen and First Tee], corporate sponsorship or leasing the properties to professional management companies. Instead, they present a ‘vision’ of repurposed property.
“One must wonder if that vision will be as successful as previous visions [such as] destroying a city and chopping up its established neighborhoods with the thoughtlessly planned routing of Interstates 630 and 30. Or building the River Market in a difficult-to-access area with limited and inconvenient parking.
“My sympathy goes to my friends and former neighbors in Little Rock, as yet another vision will soon be inflicted upon them.”
It’s too late to save War Memorial and Hindman. What municipal golf courses need, more than vision, is another Tiger Woods.