Every spring I would develop a nervous tic because it was time to do my tax return. Heavy math was not one of my strengths.
Then I met Tom the accountant. For the past decade, he has spun my numbers and kept me out of jail – and in the black.
Which brings me to Scott Simmons, the outgoing CEO of Golf Canada.
Simmons is a personable and talented professional. If Central Casting were looking for a CEO, he would be a good pick. He held the top post at Golf Canada for 10 years, and will depart his job in February 2017.
Whether he’s led to the front door of Golf House, or pushed through it, it doesn’t really matter now. In his time at the top, Simmons made some much-needed changes to the moribund organization: he was involved with the negotiations to land RBC as title sponsor of our long-suffering national men’s Open, and he did the same with CN and our women’s championship; he oversaw the name change from the snooty Royal Canadian Golf Association to a more inclusive Golf Canada; and he pared down the board of directors from 3,257 (a slight exaggeration) to a workable handful.
What he couldn’t do was make all the numbers add up.
In his decade at the top, Golf Canada lost money in eight of those years, including some single-season losses that lodge in the throat.
The introduction a while back of uber-expensive membership drives was a disaster, and further whittled down the $40 million slush fund in Golf Canada built up after selling Glen Abbey to ClubLink Corp.
Simmons was also one of the main drivers behind the NAGA Economic Impact Survey that benchmarked how big the golf industry is in Canada (about $14 billion at last count).
But one of the reasons the study was done was seriously flawed. NAGA wanted Ottawa to change its tax laws and make golf a legit business expense. As late as this fall, NAGA partners were still trudging to the capital to preach the gospel to MPs who tried not to roll their eyes.
Why shouldn’t golf be claimed as a business expense, just like other entertainment activities?
Because the perception is embedded in our psyche that golf is a preserve for the privileged few, and giving 1 percenters a tax waiver is like offering a hedge fund manager a charge card to a food bank. Any MP hoping to get re-elected isn’t going soft on someone who writes off a tony dinner with this three other 1 percenters at his uber-private club – especially if said club restricts all access to the 99 percenters (aka the general public who pay most of the taxes in this country).
Even the new El Presidente of the Disunited States (and a proud 1 percenter himself), would sum up NAGA’s mission thusly: “It ain’t gonna happen, folks.”
Simmons left behind a list of projects that may have helped grow the game, and he was a dutiful overseer of Golf Canada’s role as our National Sport Federation.
But he couldn’t get a sweetheart date for the RBC Open, launched a questionable third attempt at a membership program, and continued to have financial problems each year. To try and save some money and hopefully break even this year, Simmons cut some jobs recently but really needed to cut staff to the bone.
Although the stats say golf is our top participation sport, again, the numbers don’t add up. Most of today’s players are old, white and male, and the coming generations aren’t keen on the game. Besides, who has time to play? There’s been some movement to speed things up, but the oldsters still hog the best tee times, and are not exactly sprinting around the courses.
Yes, it was time for Simmons to go. The Golf Canada presser announcing his adios came with the expected brio: “I felt the time was right to seek out new challenges.”
Ah, yes, the old “seeking new challenges” cliché. It’s probably more factual to say Simmons saw the writing on the wall and the future did not look promising.
It doesn’t really matter why he’s leaving, but it is important we know who might replace him.
Will it be a him, or maybe a her? Or OMG, maybe it’ll be a two-headed monster – a him-her, a him-him, or a her-her?
Golf Canada has a history of hiring from within, and that gave us Simmons’ predecessor Stephen Ross. That deserves another OMG. Maybe it’s time to look outside, eh?
How about Tom Wright? He was the former president of Spalding and adidas and was once commissioner of the CFL (there’s a financial challenge!). He’s now running the Ultimate Fighting Series in Canada.
Then again, why would Wright want to run an organization that seems intent on doing things wrong?
Golf Canada can’t even send a representative to any of the major golf shows in Canada, and it manages to ignore the giant PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando each winter. Simmons was even a no-show at the NGCOA Summit in B.C.
During his time at the top, Golf Canada spun its wheels. I don’t blame him for that, but I do want to fire a broadside at the board of directors. Golf Canada has a serious identity problem. Few Canadians know what it does, and worse still, what benefits does it offer its members?
There are plenty of industry people who have grown the game without Golf Canada’s help. These grassroots programs have done more for golf than any NAGA mission to Ottawa. They have targeted kids, women and millennials.
Simmons could never get the numbers to flow in his favour.
But worse, there’s a nagging feeling that all forward movement in the game is coming to a grinding halt. The bleak news about Golf Town’s demise, the continuation of course closures, tumbling participation numbers, and even the clichéd irrelevancy of the RBC Canadian Open on the PGA Tour, are just recent examples of a slow disintegration of the game.
The last line of the Golf Canada presser announcing Simmons’ exit, might be the most chilling: “A search for Simmons’ successor … will begin immediately.”
That begs two questions: Who is conducting the search and who is doing the hiring?
Is it the same board that rubber-stamped the lousy financials for the past decade, or watched the membership numbers plummet into the Mariana Trench? For its poor performance, and lousy instincts, maybe the entire board should walk the plank?
The Roman Empire eventually expired, but it took a thousand years.
Golf Canada’s board might accomplish the same feat in a generation.
Unless it finds a super hero to be its new CEO, or uses some crypto mathematical code to spin the numbers and make it profitable again, the ugly truth is this: whoever replaces Simmons will need a good accountant.
I’d recommend mine, but he’s too busy turning my tax returns from chicken salad into a chicken casserole.
