THE STARTER SHACK
Hello Golfers,
Did you take your Mother out golfing this past weekend? Did she wax your ass? Figuratively. If so you might want to join the ePGA Tour. At least then you can hide in her basement behind a monitor and a weird username—@butterthanmost.
ePGA Tour; these guys golf in chairs
ePGA Tour, these guys are..umm. Next on the...errr. Fore please, next in the chair!
Will we see the rise of the next Tiger Woods via The ePGA Tour?
The arrival of the DJ’s and Koepka’s of the world seemingly settled the debate on whether golfers are athletes or not (Tim Herron would chime in, but he is consuming a second lunch).
A new discussion, however, may arise soon:
Can staying home staring at a screen replicate some actual golf experiences (minus, of course, the actual sights, smells and other delights that golf offers)?
Can real money be made “playing golf”, all without leaving the comfy confines of a Chesterfield?
Welcome to the world of eSports:
- Competitive, organized video game play via leagues/major worldwide events
- Millions of players; hundreds of millions of viewers (via live events, TV and streaming)
- Billions of dollars available through tournaments/sponsorships
- Revenues $1B+ annually; explosive growth expected
- Fortnite, Call of Duty and Madden NFL are examples of top eSport games
eSports are booming with today’s youth; will the PGA Tour use them to promote fan engagement?
With Tiger’s new PGA Tour 2K21 from EA Sports, a series of improvements may drive the game towards eSports:
- Play Career Mode - mimic Tour players climb through the ranks
- Real-world courses, equipment/apparel and known Tour players
- In-game earned currency used to improve player’s game
- Large community already engaged with online Tour tournaments and “season”
This all sounds like a perfect storm for the burgeoning eSports world.
You can play individual tournaments (daily fix) or participate in a simulated race for the FedEX PlayStation Cup.
With PGA Tour 2K21, there’s also the ability to create courses, or recreate courses that aren’t in the official game due to licensing issues. So, yes, you can unofficially import Augusta National, Pine Valley or Cypress Point for an afternoon leisure round.
Perhaps this course design feature can be leveraged to create an eSport entry for “Golf Course eDesigner of the Year” sponsored by the estate (and haunted by the ghost) of Pete Dye himself. The options are limitless!
GIMME
- Break 100 at Sawgrass: that's exactly what Eric Anders Lang and crew tried to do at TPC Sawgrass.
- Top 100 Course List: It's that time of year where we are reminded of all the great golf courses we'll never play.
- Bubba lost $200k: we've lost a five spot walking off the 18th green but Bubba took it to a new level finishing triple-double. Youch!
- McIlroy not approved: Rory is not super cool with the Super League—it's a money grab.
- New Swing: Charles Barkley is in the news for his new and improvedish swing.
Tiger's lucatrive golden years
Seeing the Big Cat standing on crutches certainly indicates a return to health standing upright. It was a stark reminder that his playing days aren’t exactly around the corner.
Besides missing out competitively, Tiger isn’t likely to miss these on-course earnings.
Even in a pandemic-riddled 2020, Tiger’s portfolio doesn’t rely on holing putts:
- $62.3M in 2020 earnings ($2.3M on course, $60M off course)
- Since 2012, has averaged about $55.6M per year in earnings
- From 2012-2020, off-course revenue represented anywhere 83-99% of his earnings
- Sources: Endorsements (Nike, Taylor Made, etc.), golf course design firm
- Further augmented with a return as the face of EA Sports PGA Tour 2K video game
Tiger isn’t the only pro golfer (alive or not) lining his oversized mattress with greenbacks:
- Forbes recent list of top earning active athletes has 3 pro golfers in its top 25 ()
- In 2015, Forbes highest-paid retired athletes had 4 golfers in its top 10 list
- Arnold Palmer, the 4th highest deceased celebrity earner is outdueling Elvis!
Suppose Tiger blows through his $800M and fails to maintain his lucrative endorsements.
He can always fall back on his pension earned through his play on the PGA Tour:
- Money deferred from past (and potentially future) FedEx Cup earnings
- The “made cuts clause” - 15 years of making cuts vests a sizeable $2.2M+
- Tiger’s pension (at age 50) is estimated to be worth ~$27M
Let’s just say that Tiger (or other well-heeled PGA Tour elite) isn’t going to have to check between the seats of his private jet for change. We suspect that when Tiger sets off for retirement, he will be set for life.
Even those dining off his carcass when he departs this mortal world won’t exactly be consuming Spam sandwiches for sustenance.
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Buy a Golf Course on Amazon
Golf’s not the only thing booming during the pandemic. Apparently all y’all are pumping more money into Amazon than you are into your local golf course’s coffers.
So much so that Bezos is snapping up golf courses for...(drumroll, please)...fulfillment centers! Even with golf’s resurrection, it apparently can’t compete with taco sleeping bags.
Instead of filling tee sheets, some courses will be filling Amazon orders.
Bezos spent $350 million purchasing a golf course to store all those Chia Pets being procured:
- 111 acres
- 3.8 million square feet
- Unlimited
tee timesorders
Amazon isn’t restricted like golf courses are:
- Seasonal play
- Only open during daylight hours
- Limited tee times
- Finite goods and services
- Pro shop’s $25 glove -> $20 on Amazon
Amazon sells a vast amount of products 24/7 365 days a year.
Even with a small spike in rounds played over the past year, golf simply can’t compete:
- 5 million fewer golfers today than in 2005
- 2,400 courses have closed since 2006
With golf courses taking up massive acreage, they are prime real estate for developers to build warehouses.
Let’s hope you weren’t waking up to birds chirping and grass being cut, only to now suffer the indignity of a delivery truck’s back up alarm endless droning on.
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Golf is back...errr, maybe?
Golf is back! Maybe. Fingers crossed.
It’s been beat into our head that golf is making a comeback, and it has...kind of. The pandemic created the perfect storm (not ideally perfect):
- People couldn’t travel
- Some people lost their job (more time on their hands)
- People wanted to be outside
- Social distancing was/is required
Enter golf, with it’s big breazy wide open spaces n’stuff.
There were some big year-over-year numbers that came out:
- 24.8 million people played golf in 2020 vs 24.2
- May - 6.2% increase
- June - 13.9%
- July - 19.7%
- August - 20.6%
That’s a lot of green fees but those aren’t the big numbers. The big number comes from beginner golfers at 3 million, a new record in the US. These new golfers need clubs, bags, gloves, balls, ball retrievers. Cha-ching!
Will these newly purchased clubs collect dust in a garage once the pandemic subsides.
If these golfers are anything like us, they’ve been bitten by the bug, and subsequently, a nasty 40 yard slice. If memory serves right, they’ll have night terrors for two weeks while they obsessively try to cure it.
Share to:The Bushwood Experience
On more than one occasion, a colleague and I got smashed and went to the golf shop straight from the party and slept there...to make sure we weren’t late for work. Golfers knocking on the shop door make a decent alarm clock...
We'd love to hear your most outrageous "BUSHWOOD" story...all completely anonymous (we don't even need your email): follow this link
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