Golfdom, September 2012

Your Ad Here Could American golf courses take a tip from this Nepalese golf course and allow billboards to break up the beauty h but its wonderful to find golf in the foothills of the Himalaya Walk with me across the deck and out of the clubhouse at the Gokarna Forest Resort in Kathmandu Nepal To the right the entire northern horizon is framed with high mountains To the left an ancient forest Ahead a few hours of restful golf Wait a minute an unusual sight forms the backdrop of the lovely No 10 a huge billboard touting vodka Make that two billboards the other touting golf Must be an unfortunate juxtaposition with a nearby road right No make no mistake this resort has allowed billboards to break up the beauty of its otherwise stellar surroundings Could billboards be the cash cow that saves American golf courses There has been much debate about selling advertisements on team jerseys and the lost revenue by not already doing so especially in the NBA Why not a billboard for Gatorade at the end of a long par 5 Or maybe a 5 Hour Energy Drink endorsed by Jim Furyk Pondering the concept I turn away and walk over to the putting green knowing from my research that Gokarna has a local reputation as a fantastic course Bentgrass greens are built to USGA specifications Local Bermudagrass varieties make the fairways a pleasure to tread Along most of the holes the trees surrounding the path of play are older than many of the states in the USA There are 6715 yards to this magical par 72 golf course and a score card that delineates the house rules for balls that fall into hoof prints hoof marks on the greens may be repaired I learn Gokarna is a top end course at a resort in Kathmandu Most of the players are expats and diplomats living in Nepal foreign corporations with a local presence and the upper crust of Kathmandu society This is no nickel and dime operation Membership is 2260 in U S dollars a year That may not sound like much to a superintendent in North Carolina But it is a mind boggling figure by local standards per capita income in Nepal is 473 a year Being a proficient golfer I practice putting with my head down Being a curious 30 Golfdom September 2012 By Curt HArler A