“Both courses are now back in play”: Grange Golf club refuses member dissatisfaction for hosting LIV golf event

LIV Golf recently hosted an event at Adelaide in Australia. It was the first time a major golf event had been held in the country, which was a big goal for LIV when they were formed. It was a dream of Greg Norman's and part of the selling point for Cam Smith when he defected.

The event, which was considered a wild success by everyone involved. However, after the event, reports surfaced that the tournament did more harm than good to the area it was in. Per Golf Digest, some members like Trevor Craig were unhappy:

“A profit-making circus has come to town and the people paying the price are the members."

Craig said:

“We’re not a charity, we’re a private club, and I don’t think we’ve been compensated adequately. We’re going to have a mess for six months and then it’s going to be back again."

Reports came out that the infrastructure and traffic and more caused problems that would take months and months to recover from. According to Australian Golf Digest, Grange general manager Barry Linke says this isn't true:

“We are pleased with how the course has recovered following such a fantastic event, which showcased Grange to a global audience. Both courses are now back in play, with members enjoying excellent playing surfaces. This is a credit to our ground staff, who have worked tirelessly."

He added:

"We will work with the LIV team to remedy the minimal damage to the course caused by the infrastructure, which has not affected playing areas, and look forward to planning the next event.”

Grange president Nicolle Rantanen Reynolds said that LIV did everything in its power to make this a smooth event for the area:

“Members missed eight days of play and received free tickets to LIV Golf on four of those days. Tee-times at other clubs were arranged for members to play during the eight-day closure. From the perspective of the Grange Golf Club members and all golfers, the event provided the opportunity to see the world’s best in Australia. It was also fantastic for our state."

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LIV Golf evidently didn't harm Adelaide

Reynolds continued about the LIV Golf issue:

"As a golfer it was amazing – all golfers love to see great golf – and we got to see the best in the world! This was reflected in our member survey, with 86 percent of members being satisfied or very satisfied with the event."

He added:

"There were no temporary greens in use at any time. Our members were overwhelming positive, with more than 200 members per day now enjoying playing on both courses.”

From these reports, it seems as if the idea that LIV had ravaged Australia is far overblown. It will be interesting to see if this reputation follows LIV as they expand worldwide and hit new areas that the PGA Tour and other leagues haven't.

Did LIV Golf do damage?

Despite there being reported unhappiness, it appears that the LIV expansion is still good to go without any issues. Adelaide was a big success for them, so it would be a shame to see it go.