PGA Chief Executive Thorburn talks to media about much-loved Coolum’s future
The Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Professional Golf Association Brian Thorburn has been in the news recently.
Apparently, he appeared before all manner of media persons and cleared up the ‘fog of war’ that had existed between the Australian PGA administration and Palmer Coolum Resort.
Thus far it was not even clear whether the event, the Australian Open, would be taking place at Palmer Coolum Resort at all.
The ambiguity was because of certain ‘ambush-marketing’ antics the owner of the resort, Professor Clive Palmer, had pulled off. The fairways and greens had been painted with signage, advertising the mining mogul’s companies.
There were politically charged slogans too, calling for “Freedom of Speech!” and promoting Liberal and National polity, the parties to whom Mr. Palmer is a lifetime member of and has, in the recent past, been a rather generous donor to.
Meetings were held to determine the fate of the Australian Open. It is now clear that the 11-year run of the Australian Open at the resort has come to an end.
With both parties agreeing to stage play somewhere else in Queensland besides Coolum, this season will be Coolum’s last PGA event.
The news brings with a flush of sentiment and nostalgia. Coolum had long been a favourite amongst the players as a place to go to unwind at the end of an arduous tour the whole year.
Some of the game’s biggest names could be seen sipping tea or beer with their families and whiling away the time.
The great attractiveness of Coolum’s golf had been that it was laid-back and easy. “All good things must come at an end,” said Brian Thorburn at the lengthy press conference.
When asked where the tournament would be played next year, he said “it won’t be here, we haven’t been able to reach terms with Palmer Coolum Resort besides the best efforts of both parties”.
What was the bone of contention? Thorburn said, “There are a number of factors but particularly commerce, the Palmer Coolum Resort has certainly publicly said that they didn’t want to continue with the level of sponsorship that they have previously had,
so that was certainly a factor”.
Tags: