While watching Sunday’s finale of the Bob Hope Classic, which came down to a 3-way playoff capped off by a fantastic 13-foot winning putt by Jhonattan Vegas, I was struck by something Golf Channel announcers Rich Lerner and Frank Nobilo mentioned about Vegas’ homecountry, Venezuela.
Lerner and Nobilo recounted conversations they have had with Vegas, in which he talked about his sadness at recent actions by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to permanently close several golf courses. Apparently, Chavez believes that golf is an elitist sport that doesn’t belong in a country struggling with poverty and homelessness, so he’s directed government officials to acquire and bulldoze at least 9 Venezuelan courses in favor of housing for the poor.
Regardless of your political views and your thoughts on the issues of access to and affordability of housing, this story should make you think for a moment about how lucky we are to live in a nation where golf courses are so plentiful. In my home county alone (Hamilton County, Indiana, which is comprised of around 403 square miles), there are 22 golf courses! Fifteen of them are open to the public. That means there is a golf course per every 18.3 square miles, and a public golf course per every 26.9 square miles. Getting to a local course is usually no more than a 10-15 minute drive, and some residents live on courses or within walking distance of them.
In Venezuela, by contrast, the numbers are extremely low. According to New York Times reports and Venezuela Golf Federation listings, the country had 28 courses several years ago, before government actions reduced the number to less than 20. Other sources give even lower numbers. (GolfWorldMap.com lists only 7 golf courses, all located along the northern coasts.)
Venezuela spans a total of around 353,841 square miles. You could fit more than 878 Hamilton Counties within Venezuela’s borders, yet the former contains either an equal or greater amount of courses, depending on your sources. In terms of courses per square mile, Venezuela’s ratio is more than 1/18,000.
By edging Gary Woodland and Bill Haas in Sunday’s finale, Vegas became the first Venezuelan to win a PGA Tour event. Vegas learned the game by watching and imitating his father, who worked for a 9-hole course in the oil-drilling camp in Venezuela’s Orinico River valley where the family lived during Jhonattan’s youth. He later moved to the U.S. to study and golf at the University of Texas before qualifying for the Nationwide Tour and eventually the PGA Tour. The Jhonattan Vegas story is an unlikely one, and it looks like it will become even more unlikely given recent trends in his homeland.
So the next time you find yourself complaining about the condition of the bunkers or the greens fees or the group ahead of you playing a little too slow, step back for a moment and remember how fortunate we really are. Appreciate the ease of access and relative affordability that we have. Value the variety and volume of courses that we have locally and regionally and nationally. And remember that it could be a lot less ideal. Even when you hook your approach shot out of bounds, smile and savor the fact that you’re playing a wonderful game that too many of us take for granted.
