Alright, this is Renee jumping in on Pete’s post. Just as I was writing up a little something about how much I love having the PGA here, Pete submitted the very opposite sentiment in his post “The PGA!! Who Cares?” In spite of being cheerleaders for Rochester, Pete and I often have different views on things.

So, instead of editing the crap out of Pete’s post to make it gentler or commenting at the bottom of his post, I thought this was a good opportunity to do a Renee said/Pete said post. Especially since people seem to either love or hate having big events like this in town. After all, it’s my site. I get to have a say. And I say I love having the PGA here.

MY TAKE ON THE WHOLE THING:

I am not a golfer. I participate in lots of other sports and respect the determination, sacrifices and hard work that any athlete puts in to make it to an elite competition. Yes, I am the one that yells at the television and cries during the Olympics, still secretly dreams of becoming the oldest woman to win a Gold in the 200 Backstroke and wept when Andy Murray won one for England after all these years. (Those who didn’t are made of stone, I tell ya.)

So I dig having all these golfers at the top of their games in the Rochester area simply because of my love of sports and the stories that go with it.

I know nothing about golf. I had the LPGA and the PGA confused (I didn’t realize there were different tournaments for men and women…. go ahead, Pete, that’s one of your points) so wondered why they were having another golf event this year. But I did a rare thing this morning and tuned in to a golf interview on the radio (yes hello, 1957) because the PGA is here. And I have to say that I loved the way Webb said “bar-dee” over and over again. Even though I have no idea what a birdie is.
The second reason I love having the PGA here:

It brings people to the Rochester area (yes, I know it’s technically not the city, but it’s still the metro area)! And people all over the world see Rochester on the television. Yes, it’s not a snowstorm or kids behaving badly on a bus that lands us in the news. It’s gentle talking announcers quietly giving you the temperature and whatever else they tell you when watching golf — with Rochester’s lovely summer as the backdrop. And hopefully many of those people are venturing out of Pittsford and exploring our city neighborhoods that have great restaurants and retail that you can’t get out in the ‘burbs.

Admittedly, I was also in favor of the Spider Man movie filming here earlier this year, in spite of the drawbacks of traffic jams, the naysayers complaining that Rochester wouldn’t even look like Rochester in the film, etc.

These things bring people to our city. These things raise the profile of Rochester, as other organizations consider events and filming things here.

I’m going to get off my soapbox and go find out what a birdie is.

The floor is all yours, Pete.
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THE PGA!! — WHO CARES

Every so often the local media goes insane.

Mostly this is associated with the arrival of big golf tournaments at exclusive suburban golf clubs. We are in the midst of one of these fits of madness right now.

I don’t give a flying fairway about golf. I know how to play, I know it’s very hard to do it well and that the pros visiting this week are some of the best in the world. Still, big deal.

I am not alone. After a little research, it turns out that most Americans could care less about golf. Further, it turns out that the average American golfer is, by virtually every measure, an elite.
I thought maybe it was just personal prejudice that I assumed golf is the sport of rich white guys, has sexist and racist overtones, and is outside ordinary Americans’ interests. Turns out, I assumed correctly.

Here are some data on the sport, from Statistic Brain. Their info on golfing comes from, “National Golf Foundation, US Census Department.”

The “average” American golfer is:
Male (77.5%)
Married (68%)
Went to College (67%)
Has a household income of $95,0000 (NA)
Has a net worth over $100,000 (79%)
White (79%)
(The National Golf Foundation claims that there are, “5.7 million minority golfers in the U.S., or 21%.” Sounds high to me. I’m not sure I buy it.)

Before 1990 at Augusta, if you were Black, you needn’t bother to apply for membership. You were prohibited by RACE. The history of this game has an ugly racist and sexist side. The sport’s most important event is the Masters Tournament held at some exclusive golf palace in Augusta Georgia that only let women in as members in 2012!!

Now back to the local media madness — If golf is an elitist sport enjoyed by less 10% of the population WHY is it dominating every media broadcast and newspaper?

The D&C has gigantic banners on their website; we are forced to endure “course updates” on YNN when seeking a quick weather hit; local TV and radio news programs lead off with the most inane reports — the chance of rain at Oak Hill, how fast the greens are, the leader board, what Tiger said, what the parking is like, blah,blah, blah,blah, blah.

ENOUGH ALREADY!
Just because 25,000 rich white people are flooding into Pittsford doesn’t actually make it newsworthy for the rest of us. “Us,” you know, the locals; the people who watch everyday — your audience. We don’t care if the hotels are all booked, that cones at little ice creams shops “are selling like hot-cakes,” that visitors are amazed at Wegmans, and that the restaurants are doing gang-buster business.
90.4% of us could care less about golf, the PGA, Oak Hill Country Club (with dues that approach $75,000 annually), parking hassles in Pittsford or any other dull detail of this smug event.

Rochester is a pretty good place whether the PGA is here or not. We have serious problems and excellent benefits. Turn down the volume and remember the residents of Greater Rochester who aren’t interested in this elite event. We are your customers. Not Phil and Tiger. They’re just tourists.

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Some interesting reads:
Diminishing popularity–
The Bleacher Report
Absence of Minorities —
Sports Illustrated:
Too Few Good Men: Minorities struggle to find jobs as PGA pros
The Guardian:
Golf’s failure to embrace demographics across society is hard to stomach