RJH Golf Course Management Services Inc.

All The Right Stuff

So you play golf, and lots of it. You consider yourself fluent in golf; with knowledge of all the important lingo like ISI drivers, tungsten groves, full flex shafts, Pro V1 balls. You know all the important names like Tiger, Ernie, Sergio, Davis, Phil, and so on. So let me ask you a question. Ever heard of a guy named Rob? I can probably bet you that you have no idea who I’m talking about. Well if your playing golf at some of todays top golf courses you probably are being impacted by someone who many refer to in the golf industry as the Chuck Yeager of golf. In case you do not know the story; Chuck Yeager was one of the most unknown test pilots in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s who basically led the way in aviation exploration, including breaking the sound barrier as the US waged a feverish battle with the USSR for dominance of the skies during the 1950’s. In the movie All The Right Stuff, which documents the US attempts to put a man into orbit and onto the moon there is a moment during the film where the highly celebrated Astronauts are asked as a group who is the best pilot they ever knew. One astronaut starts to answer by describing the little known Yeager and then stops and claims himself as the Best. In essence what we experience today in military and commercial aviation is either directly or indirectly a result of Yeager’s career. Chuck Yeager of course went on to become somewhat of a household name only after many of his exploits and accomplishments where made public.

So what does that have to do with a guy named Rob? Ever played the Balmoral Golf Course? Ever played the Intrawest owned Le Geant Course at the Tremblant Resort? (Ranked #31 on scores top 100 courses, runner up in Golf Digests Best new course in Canada 1995). Ever played the Intrawest owned Le Diable course at the Tremblant resort? Home of the 1999 Export “A” Skins game featuring Duval, Daly, Couples and Weir. The course was named one of the top Resort courses by Score, Golf Digest and Golf Magazine. Ever played the PE Government owned Dundarave course at the Brudenell Resort? (The fastest built course in Canadian History). Ever play The Valle Des Forts Golf Course? The ASC owned SugarLoaf Golf Course? (Ranked in the top 100 courses you can play by Golf Magazine and Golf Digest it is also ranked the # 1 resort course in New England for the last 12 years) The Intrawest owned Grey Wolf at the Panorama Resort? (The best new course in Canada in1999 by Golf Digest) The Brudenell Resort Golf Academy? Valley Ridge Golf & Conference Centre? Well if you have played any of these or many others you know Rob, although you have probably never met him nor even seen him.

His full name is Robbie Hellstrom and over the last 10 years he has contributed and set the trend at many of today’s golf courses in both Canada and the US. His involvement in the above mentioned projects ranges from construction and project management to operations and site management. In October 1999 Golf Course News called him, “one of the leading experts in all aspects of construction, management and operations”. “ It is clear to me upon reflecting on what was accomplished at Tremblant that there may not be anyone I know today that could have pulled it off the way Robbie did ”, said Roger McCarthy the past Vice President and General Manager of the Intrawest owned Tremblant who is now the CEO of Breckenridge Resort in Colorado. “I have personally seen the quality controls he has developed, the services he has created being duplicated time in and time out at other highly recognized resorts in both Canada and the US,” he went on to say. Hellstrom joined Tremblant in 1994 after having completed a three-year stint with Development Golfmont the developers and owners of the Balmoral golf course. Upon joining the Tremblant team Robbie was given the responsibility of assisting in overseeing the construction of the Thomas McBroom designed Le Geant course. “ I had the fantastic opportunity to work with some of the best people in the golf business upon joining the Tremblant Project. I had just finished working with Grahame Cooke on the Balmoral project and was excited to be working with Thomas and the Bruce S. Evans group; the general contractors who were responsible for the construction”. These guys represented some of the most highly recognized and respected individuals in the golf industry,” said Hellstrom. It didn’t take long for the senior management team at Tremblant to recognize the talent in Hellstrom. No more then 9 months after joining the team they offered him a position as a Director to over see all summer operations, which included golf, beach and tennis operations. Tremblant needed someone with an extensive knowledge of the recreation business. “We were amazed that we had this guy who was suppose to be a construction, grow-in and maintenance specialist with such an in-depth knowledge of everything from Retail to marketing to F&B already working for us. We did a bunch of interviews with other individuals already in the business, but we were looking for someone with a different back ground who could think outside the traditional “Box”. It didn’t take long for us to realize we already had the guy we needed,” said Marc Tremblay who at the time was the Assistant General Manager of Tremblant and is now the Vice President of Intrawest owned Mountain Creek in New Jersey.

As the operation at Tremblant grew so did Hellstrom’s responsibility. Reflecting back Hellstrom said, “I was so proud to belong to that organization, I had never before worked with such competent, dedicated and hard working people. I was amazed at how fast the thing grew out of the ground. They just kept giving me responsibility and I just kept taking it and I learnt so much from it”. Some of that responsibility was assisting the growing stable of resorts Intrawest was acquiring. He assisted the Stratton Mountain Country Club in Vermont after one particularly bad winter that had claimed all but 4 of their greens. He also worked briefly with Architect Doug Carrick on the Panorama Project in B.C as well as overseeing the acquisition of the Monte Ste Marie Resort north of Ottawa/Hull.

“Working briefly with Carrick was one of the highlights of my career. We were working on the design competition for the Second course at Tremblant (Le Diable) and I had a chance to meet Doug in Vancouver during the CGSA show. He was working on a five year master play of some renovations to the Stanley Thompson designed Capilano Golf Course in Vancouver. We met up and walked the course together I had a great time learning about his design philosophies and about him the man”, said Hellstrom. “I wish I could have been more involved with him at Panorama, all I did was go over some of the preliminary routings with him and I worked with Grahame Wood the General Manager of Panorama on budget and JVC issues. That course is a fantastic piece of work and Doug and the Panorama team should be very proud of their accomplishments,” he concluded.

In the fall of 1996 Hellstrom was called on to oversee Intrawest’s acquisition of the Mont Ste Marie Resort. He was parachuted into the resort during the due diligence process to manage the entire facility. “That was a process I was unfamiliar with at the time. I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew there were issues that would need to be resolved; i.e. existing staff performance, financial performance, general market perceptions.I can honestly say that it was much more then I ever expected. After six months concluding the due diligence process it was clear that the future there for me would be very limited. I had been in essence the guy who cleaned things up and made way for someone else to take over the operations” explained Hellstrom. “That was exactly what we needed Robbie to do for us at MSM”, said Roger McCarthy. “Besides we needed him back here at Tremblant to get the Le Diable golf course project underway”. So from Mont Ste Marie Hellstrom returned to Tremblant to begin the planning process for the construction of the second course at Tremblant (Le Diable).

Upon returning to Tremblant, the first thing Hellstrom needed to do was to figure out how to run Le Geant and juggle his other responsibilities at Tremblant and with Intrawest while at the same time oversee the Le Diable project. Next he needed to secure an architect for the project. Hellstrom and Bill Green the Director of Real Estate Development quickly devised a plan to have a design competition, which saw invitations sent to 5 highly recognized architects to participate in a unique design competition. “We basically sent out some Topo maps showing the general location of the new course and some of the challenges. We then invited them to send back preliminary routing plans as well as budgets for their design. It was a great process and we got back 4 drawings from the 5 architects we invited. The decision was tough but in the end we all agreed that the plan put forward by Hurdzan/Fry Golf Design was by far the best”, explained Hellstrom. “We were also interested in breaking into the US golf market and we felt the best way to do this was to find a reputable Architect who was well known in the United States and also had a strong environmental approach to golf course design”, he concluded. The main challenge for the Le Diable project was getting the job done in a record 6 months. Tremblant wanted to ensure that they could put the course into the market no later then June of 1998. This was no easy undertaking as 6 of the holes literally had to be carved out of the mountainside. “We had a great project manager named Pete Chauvin who worked his butt off, we also brought back Bruce S. Evans to work with Miller Excavation who had been awarded the contract for the project. We then put a critical path together with basically no margin for error and we went to work”, described Hellstrom. “Mike Hurdzan, Dana Fry and Jason Straka were instrumental in the success of the project. These guys were all over this job. They continuously met or exceeded any expectations we had of them. They were simply the best to work with,” said Hellstrom. In October of 1997 the project was completed on time and on budget and Hellstrom along with some other Intrawest and Tremblant Managers got a chance to play 11 holes, which had already been grown in and ready for play under Hellstrom’s supervision. Dana Fry probably sums it up best, “when everyone else tells you it can’t be done, you pick up the phone and call Robbie”.

In the fall of 1997 with the Le Diable project completed and Le Geant running smoothly Hellstrom decided it was time to take his experience and go out on his own. “It was one of the hardest business decisions I ever had to make”, he said, referring to leaving Tremblant and Intrawest. “I remember meeting with Roger McCarthy and Hugh Smythe The President of Intrawest Resort Operations. We talked at length about the future and what opportunities potentially existed. We concluded that the best opportunities existed for me in the market place. Both Roger and Hugh also gave me a lot of confidence by telling me that I would certainly benefit from some business from them in the future”. That business was not long in coming. Right after Hellstrom left Tremblant he was resigned as a consultant to assist in overseeing things during the search for a new candidate to replace him. Then in the fall of 1998 he was contacted by Tremblant to assist them in securing the 1999 Export “A” Skins Game. Upon securing the event his services were retained to co-ordinate the event with IMG the event owners. “That was certainly a highlight of my career. Organizing and coordinating the event with a highly respected and international company like IMG certainly gave me insight into event management that you never see watching them on T.V. Walking inside the ropes for 18 holes with four of the top golfers in the world in front of 5000 people sure opens your eyes really quickly to the expectations of both the players and the spectators” said Hellstrom. After the event was over Neil Champagne the new Director of Golf Operations at Tremblant asked Hellstrom to continue on as a consultant to assist him with golf course maintenance and Academy issues. “I had worked with Robbie during the acquisition of Monte Ste Marie where I was in charge of golf operations. The things I learned from Rob during that short time gave me some of the tools to go on to become the Director here at Tremblant. After the Skins Game and seeing what he had done to bring the event together for us I felt we could definitely benefit from a continued relationship”, said Champagne. “You just have to appreciate the enormous energy and intelligence Robbie brings with him, people like to work with him because his only interest is in doing things right and the best”, he concluded.

While all that may seem quite impressive the most interesting part of this story is that prior to organizing the skins game at Tremblant Hellstrom had already signed on with Brudenell River Developments as well as American Ski Company out of Bethel Maine. He had been contacted by the BRD group to assist them in constructing a Hurdzan/Fry layout and a golf Academy on Prince Edward Island. At the very same time Hellstrom was contacted by Peter Webber of ASC who wanted him to come to Sugarloaf to assist them in taking the course in a new direction. Not quite sure how to manage all these jobs simultaneously Hellstrom created a travel plan that would see him go from Tremblant to PEI to Maine in a 7 day none stop rotation. “If you think you have ever worked hard in your life you have to take a look at what Robbie did over a 12 month period”, said Webber. I’m not sure when or even if the guy ever slept during that time. What I do know is that every time he was here he was contributing in a big way and he never missed a beat. I’m sixty five years old and have been exposed to a lot of professionals in my life but I have never met or seen anyone as talented as him”, concluded Webber. The PEI project was proving to be more challenging then Hellstrom expected. The government of PEI had entered into an agreement with The BRD group to provide a golf course, which it would then lease back over a ten-year agreement. Golf on the Island had taken off big time, thanks in large part to the Thomas McBroom designed Links at Crowbush Cove, which was receiving national recognition. The Government saw the need to build another course quickly but did not want to take the risks associated with construction. “It became very clear that this was not going to be a very popular project. The island is so small and politics are so prevalent that you understood pretty quickly that this was a no win situation”, explained Hellstrom. This point hit home hard when in the mid summer some family of the owners of the house Hellstrom and his family where renting on the Island showed up to pick up a doghouse in the back yard. The developers had purchased a large wood style play set for Hellstrom children as a welcome to the Island gift. I wasn’t home at the time but these two individuals started talking to my wife and she explained what we were doing on the Island. They mentioned the play set and my wife explained that the Developers had bought it for us. One of the individuals then looked at my wife and said, “I hope your brats enjoy playing on that thing which we the tax payers paid for”. “Later on I found out that the individual who made the statement hadn’t worked for 3 years and was collecting welfare so in fact she wasn’t paying for anything nor was any other tax payer as this gift came directly from the pockets of each of the developers”, explained Hellstrom. While the tone of the project may not have been positive the outcome certainly was. Today Dundarave has quickly become recognized as a new edition to some of the best courses in the Country. “That’s the sad part of the project”, said Hellstrom. “The Island now has another great course but because of the short sightedness of certain bureaucrats and residents the project has never gotten the push it deserves. Imagine given the reputation it has now what it would be like if they had gotten behind this thing”, he concluded.

Some people close to Hellstrom say that 1999 and 2000 were to much for any one person to handle, some say it weighed on Hellstrom strongly, especially the Dundarave project. “Knowing him the way I do it was clear to me that he went to extraordinary levels to deliver that project” said Pete Webber of ASC. “Having to carry that project a month longer into 1999 made the balance of his work load even harder to manage. I still can’t believe that he managed to continue moving forward, regardless of the challenges, he just would not quit. That’s the main attribute I think Robbie has is that he will literally bleed for the people he works for, he will go through whatever walls it takes to get the end result. Simply put, its why I love working with him”, Concluded Webber.

No one exactly knows the toll the 1999 season had on Hellstrom. He is a devoutly private individual who has very few friends in the business. Quite a few stories have been written about him, however he has granted very few interviews (please see our interview up close and personal at the conclusion of this article). “Robbie is like a ghost, he will make a lot of noise when he wants or needs to but prefers to remain invisible to the majority”, explained Martin Piche Director of Operations at Vallee des Forts, a course co-designed by Hellstrom.

Piche probably knows Hellstrom better then anyone in the golf business both professionally and personally. They got started working together in the early 90’s on the Balmoral project and continued on the Le Geant Project until Hellstrom recommended Piche for the lead job at Vallee Des Forts while consulting and designing for them. “I think Robbie is very misunderstood within the industry”, said Piche. “A lot of the people working in golf have their little cliche and affiliations. Robbie has never been interested in any of that. I think a lot of people are jealous of his success and the fact that he has gotten where he is not by who he knew but by what he accomplished. He is also very outspoken about his dislikes in the business and he is not out there trying to be everyone’s best friend. His sole and unique purpose is to work with great people, teach and learn as much as he can and deliver the goods for the people he gets paid by”, concluded Piche.

Today you will find Hellstrom nestled in the foothills of Calgary just on the city limits at a course called Valley Ridge. He has been working for the Vancouver based developer and owner assisting them in changing the direction of their 27 hole facility. It’s a far cry from the 1999 schedule but the project is vast just the same. The facility under Hellstrom’s direction is undergoing a massive face-lift; everything from layout, to marketing, to management is undergoing a complete change. “I’m not sure anyone in Calgary actually knows just who Robbie is or what he has done, that’s the unique aspects of his career. They have the Tiger Woods of the golf industry working in their midst and I’m pretty sure most of them don’t even realize it” said Champagne. He is due to be finished at Valley Ridge sometime in 2001 or 2002. That however seems unimportant given his proven ability to manage more then one animal at a time. When asked about his plans for the future Hellstrom’s only comment was, “will see”.

The important part about all of this in relation to the every day golfer is that you can plan for some time to come to be experiencing some part of Hellstrom’s contribution to your game of golf. Whether that is in the form of the design of a course, the type of services you receive or the quality of the playing conditions some of it might just be part of him. So while his name or face may not be as familiar as that of Tiger, Phil or Sergio you can best believe that your golf experience has and is being affected by a guy named Rob.

I had the unique opportunity to sit down with Robbie recently to get a better understanding about the man and his career.

Welcome to my course

Jim

I’m not sure exactly where to start given your extensive project load over the last 5 years. Maybe I could start by asking you how you feel about what you have accomplished during this time.

R.H.

Well I certainly feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to work on so many great projects and with so many great people. I also feel a great sense of accomplishment that I was able to complete everything I set out to do.

Did you have some kind of plan from the onset? Where there certain things you wanted to do within a certain time frame?

Not at first. When I got my first opportunity to work in golf with Stuart “Buster” Cooke at the Arundel Golf & Country Club I really had very little expectations. But as I had the chance to work with Buster I began to see just how much opportunity potentially existed. He really opened my eyes to this.

There is no doubt in my mind that I would not be where I am today had I not had the opportunity to work for him. He was truly an inspiration, here was a gentlemen who was in his early seventies working just as hard if not harder then most twenty year olds. He led by example. I remember asking him what time it was one day when I forgot my watch and he looked over at me and said, “I wouldn’t know I’ve never worn a watch to work because I really don’t care what time it is I just care about getting the job done”. From that point forward I never wore a watch again.

Coming back to what you have accomplished over the last few years do you have any one that is your proudest or most treasured.

Not really. Every one of those projects has been so different one from the other I enjoyed every one of them in some different way. There are some that have been more difficult then others.

In the industry circles there has been some really negative things said about that project, the way you were treated on the Island, the government involvement and the Developers dealings with you. Would you comment?

I really don’t like to get to in-depth into this issue. I will say the following however. Dundarave golf course and the golf academy are two great projects. The design by Hurdzan/Fry is world class; the people on the island in general were exceptionally nice, polite and caring people. The Government should not be in golf operations, they should support and market golf but should not operate; its just logical. As for the Developers I think they know exactly what level of product they got and I think they understand the energy that was put into delivering it for them.

Well so be it. I have as many taxpayers have rarely seen Government run anything effectively. That’s just reality. Their focus is not business it is in getting elected. In PEI you generally have 50% of the people not satisfied with whichever government happens to be in power. Under this type of Social context you know the government in power is going to do whatever it can to keep its 50% satisfied. This simply means that their decisions are often not business oriented but politically motivated. Its called self-preservation and it doesn’t work if your trying to manage effective profit oriented businesses.

Robbie you have often been seen as an outsider or a rebel because you do not carry yourself in any of the established circles. In fact the only time you have ever appeared in public was as speaker at the GCSAA conference in Orlando in 1996 and at the GCSA conference in Vancouver. Other then that you keep a pretty low profile.

It has never been my intention to make the golf business my platform for anything in particular. I just love the business and have enjoyed my success.

Even given your low profile there are those in the business who are now using your name in reference to Icon, trendsetter, and maverick. What do you say about this?

Its very humbling, However I believe there are too many great people in the business now and who have come before me to be putting me in the same league as them.

Non-withstanding that it’s still happening. Do you feel this put pressure on you with each new project you take?

Not at all. I already put so much pressure on myself when it comes to delivering the end product to the people I work for. In fact that has always been my primary motivator is giving the best to the people I work for.

In the story I referred to you as the Chuck Yeager of the golf business do you feel this is a fair comparison?

In some ways yes. In no way am I making the contributions that Yeager made. However I am out there doing things that no one else wants to try? Yes! I always seem to be the guy who needs to find out if something really can’t be done. I love the challenges. I love finding out how to make something work and how to translate that so others can put in into action with the ultimate goal of making something more cost effective or better for the golfer. So in that sense the comparison would be fair.

Jim

A lot has been said about the people who have worked with you who have gone on to better careers and who have attributed their success to the fact they had the opportunity to work with you. How do you feel about this?

R.H.

This is probably the single most important thing to me. I have always believed that you should measures someone’s success not by the number of projects they have been involved with but by the number of people who have benefited from working with you. I get immense satisfaction from seeing the people I have worked with now occupying roles as Director of Operations, General manager, Vice Presidents and Superintendents.

You took a different route up the ladder. You started in the maintenance side of the business and worked up that way. That had been tried many times by others but most had failed. Why do you think you succeeded?

R.H.

Luck, timing, hard work, dedication, motivation and other things. They’re all part of the reason. Mainly I believe that I saw opportunity that others did not. I realized coming into the business that the maintenance guys and particularly the Superintendents held the most important card. Think about it. Does anyone come to a golf course because the hot dog is good in the half way house? Or because the Pro has a really good swing and sells nice shirts? Of course not! They come because of the condition of the golf course and the perceived reputation of the facility. Knowing this it seemed only logical that the guy running the place should be in the best position to manage and understand this aspect of the business. So many times I heard Managers talking about issues related to maintenance and they may as well have been talking about brain surgery for all they knew. Given this I made it my business to learn the other side of the business. F&B, Retail, Marketing, People management. In all honesty these were way easier to learn than any class on plant botany.

You mentioned Golf pro’s. You have a reputation of not liking them and in many cases not having any work for you in your operations. What is that all about?

R.H.

There’s really no story there. I have always tried to go out and find the best possible people to work with me to achieve specific objectives. Unfortunately the vast majority of golf Professionals that I have come in contact with just haven’t got it right (get ready because I’m about to get myself in more trouble and grow this continuing reputation). Simply put the golf industry has changed radically over the last 10 years and while the vast majority of professionals and their association’s claim they are keeping up they just are not. Golf isn’t about mom & pop operations any more, they are about large organizations such as ClubLink, Intrawest, Club Corp, American Golf, ASC and so on who have recognized the enormous business opportunities. These organizations are now focused more then ever on providing superior services to their guests and running an organization that is EBITDA oriented. Unfortunately most professionals are in the business as a result of their passion for the game. There is nothing wrong with this except that passion for the game does not translate into business understanding of the game. I think golf professionals play a large and strategic role in the game and business today, however I believe that this role is better served growing the game through teaching and playing, not management.

Jim

You mentioned quite a few of the big Organizations, which are now managing multiple facilities. How has this changed the business?

R.H.

Well it has certainly made it more competitive. Also I believe it has made it better for the golfer. While some golfers may challenge this statement I do truly believe that today’s golfer has better access to better products and services as a result of this strategy. I also now believe it or not; that the pricing for golf is actually more competitive then it would be had these mergers and acquisitions not taken place.

Jim

Most people in the business know very little about Rob Hellstrom the man. You lead a very private life outside the golf arena. Why have you chosen to be so reclusive?

R.H.

Everyone who works in this business can tell you just how much pressure there is. For someone not in the business they probably laugh at that statement and say, “how hard can being in the golf business be”? The answer is very hard. There are few people I know in this business who work less then 65-75 hours a week, six days a week and often 7. We work in a business that is predominately controlled by weather. Last time I checked no person I know could control the weather, therefore we are constantly at its mercy. The problem is most golfers do not understand this. Then you have the incredible environmental movement, which has raised the expectations as it relates to how courses are maintained or built. The problem is that while these standards make it exceptionally more difficult to maintain courses the golfer still expects championship tournament conditions at their course every day. Combine all of this with a much more competitive market where the guest wants everything right every second and you have a formula for some significant challenges. Based on all of this I decided that I would not participate in the industry outside my weekly 80-90 hours a week of work. I also decided to protect my family and close friends from the pressures I experience every day.

Jim

So would you like to tell us about the man?

R.H.

No thanks!

Jim

Recently there has been talk in some circles that you plan to leave the golf industry all together after you complete your work on the Valley Ridge Project. Care to comment?

R.H.

I am considering my future very carefully as I always have.

Jim

Rumor has it that you have been offered a job in the political field as an advisor to a significant political leader.

R.H.

Boy I do love rumors. I have always had a keen interest in politics. I have for some time considered a possible career behind the scenes but at this point I have no specific plans.

Jim

In closing tell us where you think the golf business is going and what are its significant challenges over the next few years.

R.H.

I would like to think the sport will continue to grow. Yet to do this I think there will need to be a more concerted effort on the part of all organizations like the RCGA, NGCOA, CPGA, GCSA and so on to find ways to encourage young people to enter the game. I'm talking here about making it easier to play and have access to play. Think about all the culturally popular sports like baseball, hockey, football, and basketball. All these sports have one thing in common, the ease at which they were accessible to anyone. All you needed was a ball, a glove, a stick, a bat and a field or road. You didn't have to pay $600.00 for equipment and $60 dollars to access the area you wanted to play the sport. There were public and municipal fields and outdoor rinks available to all. The cost of a stick is $10-$15 the cost of a baseball and a glove is $50 or much less for a second hand one. Then you have the whole issue of rules and regulations. Kids play these sports and learn very quickly the rules and regulations. However when you play a game of pick up nobody worries too much about offside or where the strike zone really is or did you actually make it into the end zone. Only when you join a league do you play by the exact rules. In golf however we have created this perception of a complicated sport with numerous rules that just bog down the game and take away the fun. Think about how often you have seen slow play on a golf course because people out for a Saturday round are worried about who putts first, having to go back to the tee to hit another ball because one has been lost. Think of all the times you have seen searches for balls that last 10 minutes only to have the person then try and hit their ball a half dozen times out of the woods where it was found. None of these things do anything for the speed at which we play, nor do they make the game more enjoyable. As an industry we have to get our heads out of the old locker room with the guys wearing the blue blazers with the crest on the front and move it into the mainstream where we can promote all that's great about the game. Only when this begins to happen will the sport continue to flourish. The baby boomers are getting older; in twenty years from now most of them will not be around. Someone better start asking who is going to be playing and if everyone is depending on Tiger to carry that future you're expecting way too much.

Source: Golf Guide National Directory, Spring 2002

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