Challenging year ahead for all of golf.

The fact that the final meaningful round of golf was delayed by weather and thus sabotaged my last, but one golf column of the year sums up the golfing season we have just presided over and hopefully isn’t an omen for 2024. The final round of Q school for the PGA tour was delayed because of rain (of course it was) which leaves me no other option but to have a look at the state of play the golf industry finds itself currently in. Padraig Harrington is always value for money and his Christmas address to the nation via two social media clips about the golf ball and his son’s debut participation in the PNC Championship are well worth the watch if you stumble over them in the coming days.

Annual General Meetings will have taken place far and wide over the last few weeks and regretfully the primary message coming from the floor was how disappointed members were with weather cancellations this year and as an add on their disappointment with how this would have affected their playing enjoyment throughout the season. Management committees can only agree with such observations and although they will always be at the mercy of the weather gods, every effort must be made to balance the impossible by keeping the course open and not causing irreputable damage by doing so. The knock-on effect of course is a falloff in green fee revenue which in turns normally means an increase in subscription.

With no new Irish golfer coming onto the scene the hopes of a nation will once again fall on the shoulders on Rory McIlroy. A lot of water will have flowed passed the first at St. Andrews before the make up of the runners and riders for the Masters in April is confirmed and one can only hope that a worthy field is assembled at Augusta to compete for the first Major of the year. No sporting achievement ever wants an asterisk next to the Champion’s name but regretfully this nightmare scenario is on our horizon, a million miles away but on our horizon, nevertheless. A weakened field would be the death nail for our sport as new Major champions could not be spoken about in the same breath as those of whose shoulders they were standing on.

So, what are my hopes for 2024? A normal golfing year weather wise would be nice domestically. A dry March with no issue surrounding qualifying competitions beginning as they traditionally do on April 1st. Some new Irish success would also be welcome, obviously not on the main tours but on the supplementary ones like the Alps and Challenge Tours. Strangely enough I’m not keen on debut Major victories but I’ll happily accept one out of four. As I have tickets for the Saturday in Troon, a bit of excitement on the third day of the Open is my number one wish for the season. Happy Christmas!