National Golf Day; how will you be celebrating?

Play golf Seattle!

National Day of Prayer. National Day of Service. National Day of Giving. All worthy of recognition and preservation of course but, I must confess, mostly overlooked in our crazy house where birthdays are sometimes remembered on the day of.

National Golf Day? Now that is what I'm taking about.

Our sport has taken some flak these last few months. Apparently it is a hobby for idol fat cats, bad for the environment, sexist, ageist and racist, and the PGA Tour's tax-exempt status is dubious given how much money it makes.

I'm certainy not getting into the whole golf and race/gender/age thing here, but I will say attacks on the game for its corporate excesses and poor environmental record are mostly unfair, misguided and out of date.

Look at the numbers issued ahead of the PGA of America's visit to Washington DC on May 13th when it, and other associations, will try to put Congress right on a thing or two; 28.7million golfers in the US; two million people employed in the golf industry earning a total of $61billion in wages; $3.5billion raised for charity every year by way of almost 150,000 charitable tournaments; almost 50% of all courses increasing their unmaintained areas by ten acres or more in the last ten years; $4.4million in scholarships awarded to over 2,400 students by the First Tee, a non-profit program devised and sponsored by the PGA of America, PGA Tour, LPGA, USGA and Augusta National Golf Club that introduces the game and its ideals to kids.

The golf industry has been valued at almost $80billion and is said to benefit the US economy to the tune of $195billion! I repeat; $195BILLION.

I can't help thinking most people's misconception of the game comes from watching Tiger Woods et al win a gazillion dollars playing the Masters at the very exclusive and very manicured Augusta National. If the Masters was the only tournament I ever watched, I'd probably feel the same. But, as any golfer will tell you, Bobby Jones' tournament and the golf club he built are unique in many regards. Most golfers spend thousands on green fees, clubs, trips and lost golf balls every year playing on city-owned/public access courses that monitor and seek to reduce their effect on the environment and which might otherwise have been a housing development or, God forbid, another shopping mall.

Yes, we'll certainly be observing National Golf Day in our house. How? In the morning I'll take a few moments to choose my fantasy team for this week's Valero Texas Open and probably have a putt along the office floor. In the afternoon, I'll change my fantasy team after realizing Bob Estes is not going to win and plump for Brian Gay or Justin Leonard instead. In the evening I'll either take my boy to the driving range or go and play some bad golf at the local municipal. Then I'll come home and watch whatever's on the Golf Channel for an hour - even if it's the Big Break.

My contribution to that $195billion economic impact won't be substantial, but I'll decrease my health insurance premiums by doing something healthy, expose my son to a game that promotes honesty, manners and respect, and give my wife the chance to sit back and do nothing for a couple of hours. I'm biased but I'd say golf is worth keeping.

Happy National Golf Day.

For More Info: Add your name to the petition to let Congress members know how important golf is to you.