For many golf casuals, the lasting image from LIV Golf Adelaide will be Chase Koepka’s ‘Watering Hole’ ace and the good-time-had-by-all vibe that accompanied the shot and, seemingly, the tournament. All, that is, except for a handful of members of Grange Golf Club.
According to the Adelaide’s The Advertiser, some Grange members are upset over the repercussions of hosting the fledgling league’s event, most notably the deterioration of the course caused by all the beer around the Watering Hole and temporary installations that resulting in “six weeks with a compromised course”. With annual fees of several thousands dollars a year, plus a healthy joining fee, several members have been vocal over their displeasure at the way the LIV event was run and what has followed ever since.
“A profit-making circus has come to town and the people paying the price are the members,” Trevor Craig told The Advertiser.
Craig has been a Grange member for 45 years, and although he was pleased with the spotlight the 54-hole tournament brought to his club, he’s less than pleased with nearly everything else.
“We’re not a charity, we’re a private club, and I don’t think we’ve been compensated adequately,” he said. “We’re going to have a mess for six months and then it’s going to be back again.”
With more than 77,000 patrons at LIV Golf Adelaide during the week, Grange certainly expected some wear and tear. But it sounds like nothing to the extent that occurred. The club even tried to get ahead of the potential backlash by giving members free tickets due to the disruption the event might cause, and yet many say that it was still “too big a price”.
Mind you, the uproar is coming from a select few; a majority of Grange members seem content with the tournament returning. The Advertiser reported the results of a club survey that say 86 percent of members were “satisfied or very satisfied” with the event and 7 percent were neutral. An additional 7 percent of the members polled were “dissatisfied or very dissatisfied”.
Barry Linke, Grange’s general manager, told The Advertiser that he understands the outrage but still reportedly believes that the event was more than worth it.
“We have received many e-mails, letters and phone calls congratulating the club for delivering the event,” Linke said. He did go on to state that with more prep time for the next iteration, the club and LIV should be able to work together on stronger planning and less harm to the course.
