Steve Czaban has this eye-opening expose on the graft, incompetence, and neglect plaguing the future of the Rio Olympics course.
I remember telling certain golf architects that losing that bid would be a blessing, and that the guy who won would be sorry in the long run. And while it was fun for three weeks, it looks like that might be the extent of the course’s existence. From the article:
“The course is now on the brink of going belly up. All of four months removed from hosting the games. Did anyone expect anything less from the most corrupt and wasteful sports organization on earth, the IOC? And poor Brazil. The people didn’t want this thing. Nobody plays golf. Nobody can afford it.
But they were forced to buy it, and now it’s heading back to it’s original state. Minus the $19 million it cost to build it. ”
My guess will come on with money – someone else’s money – and the course will limp along in a tortured existence until some coup or uprising or just plain malfeasance spells the end of people’s patience with the waste of money and land the bureaucrats have foisted upon them. We need more great courses in the U.S., not one-offs in emerging nations.
Meanwhile, here’s something more to ponder, care of Yahoo Sports:
“Just three people were hitting balls at the driving range during a visit by AFP this week. The main course was closed for maintenance, but only a trickle of players can be expected even when it’s open, employees said.
The clubhouse was not only empty but almost entirely unfurnished. In the cafe, which has no chairs, a solitary waiter and a second man there to collect green fees waited in silence for customers.
A course that merely weeks ago hosted some of the world’s best golfers has no pro-shop or a pro. There is no website. Even getting there can be tricky: there are no road signs indicating the entrance.”
Wanna hear the howler of an excuse they gave the journalist who wrote that article? It’s a soft opening…
