Editor's note: This article originally appeared in The Undercover The newsletter invites people working in the golf industry to give their anonymous opinion, and here a tournament administrator is interviewed by editor-in-chief Max Adler. Subscribe via Golf Digest+ Be sure to sign up for this newsletter regularly.
I'm part of the senior team running a nationally televised celebrity golf tournament. Each year the contestants change names, and we have what can be 10+ very difficult conversations informing respected and beloved actors, athletes and entertainers that their spots are no longer available. It can be especially difficult when the celebrity is an avid supporter of the event, and they have no time to interact with fans, sign autographs for kids, enthusiastically attend cocktail parties with sponsors, or use their network to raise money for charity work tied to the tournament.
These are people who understand.
Instead, we invite them in and provide them with a true competitive experience with leaderboards, prize money and cameras. In return, they provide us with a field that attracts viewers from disciplines outside of golf. And I sometimes have to say to these people, usually after years of laughs and friendship, “Hey, thanks for everything. See you next year.” While golf seems to be growing in popularity and becoming the second sport for every major athlete, the alternative list is not. ProfessionalA place you must go.
It's tough, but that's show business – this is sports entertainment and you always need new talent to keep the fans excited and the events relevant.
Sometimes, it's not that hard. I'm talking about the rare occasions when there's a celebrity you simply don't want to invite back.
I won't name names, but things have been tough recently. If there's a common theme to our events, it's that it's a week where no one pretends to be better or greater than anyone else. This celebrity didn't buy into that idea.
There were many sources of friction that week, but the final straw was an episode in which a celebrity requested extra police officers to walk with the group. There were fans who were making this person uneasy, but we take security very seriously and quickly complied. We later heard from other golfers in the group that there were no such fans and that it was just jealousy of some of the other celebrity groups that we had extra security for.
Who do you believe? It doesn't matter: if other celebs are saying they don't want to be paired with this person, that's all you need to know.
