India Golf Weekly Editor – Rishi Narain
For many reasons, 2021 will be a year none of us will ever forget. Without dwelling on the global pandemic, let’s look at a snapshot of 5 major golf related happenings on a global level this year which will have a long lasting effect on the future of the game for some time to come:
- Number of golfers, golf rounds played, equipment sold and revenue earned by golf courses went up dramatically during 2021, not only in India but around the world. This trend, which started in 2020, reversed the global decline that had marked the previous decade. This growth is likely to sustain as more people have become conscious of the unique environment and benefits that golf has to offer.
- Tiger Woods’ near fatal car crash in February and his resurrection in playing competitive golf at the end of the year – it’s a story that captured our attention, like only Tiger stories can !
- Corporate and Investor money pouring into professional tours – led by Dubai Government backed DP World announcing the renaming of the European Tour to the DP World Tour.
- The Saudi Government backed Liv Investments announcing a potential game changing US$ 200 million commitment to the otherwise struggling Asian Tour.
- The Saudi backed Professional Golf League threatened to disrupt the comfortable monopoly of the PGA Tour over the world’s top players. So yes 2021 has been a year like few others in the game’s history. Time will tell how these developments turn out.
Next week we will pick for you a few standout developments from an Indian perspective.If any readers would like to write to me about their thoughts on some significant happenings in Indian golf, do write to me on rishi@rnsportsmarketing.com.