TWO out of three public golf courses are 'temporarily' closed and what in the past has been labelled as the Island's premier tournament, the Bermuda Open, has this week attracted a measly 27 entrants.

It wouldn't be unfair to describe the sport on which this country has partially built its reputation is enduring something of a mini crisis.

Of course, those responsible for all of the above would no doubt vehemently disagree.

By this time next year, a sparkling and completely renovated Port Royal, having first hosted the PGA's Grand Slam for the first time will also have regained its right to again host the Open.

Prize money will have swelled to a new high with corporate sponsors clamouring to get onboard.

And at the opposite end of the Island work will have begun on a new championship course to complement a luxury hotel intended displace the old Club Med.

We wish!

The stark reality is that golf in Bermuda might already be a mirror of the economic collapse, of which we have all become victims.

And worse is still to come.

There's every chance that if the credit crunch continues, work on Port Royal's lavish improvements, which in this correspondent's humble opinion will have to be mightily impressive to match the original course that was opened in the early '70s, could still be ongoing.

Will Government be able to spare the cash for a project that some might say shouldn't be that high on the priority list?

As for the Nick Faldo-designed course that will replace the old St. George's lay-out, plans could well be shelved if in turn plans for a Park Hyatt hotel are put on the backburner.

A pessimistic perspective, perhaps, but there's no doubt a measure of uncertainty surrounds the golf industry as it does all major sports.

A year ago, multiple Open winner Tim Conley warned that if Bermuda Golf Association didn't take steps to make the event more attractive to overseas professionals, it would continue to decline in popularity.

At the same time, Conley picked up the lion's share of a $50,000 purse, which for a competition aimed at professionals is rather unattractive.

A year on, prize money has been reduced to just $14,000, making it impossible for any of those who intended to fly in to cover their expenses, thus the huge drop in entries.

BGA may point to the financial crisis as contributing to the Open's demise. But the fact remains, long before the markets imploded nothing was done to publicise the tournament, improve its status on the worldwide circuit by approaching organisations such as the Nationwide Tour, the Canadian Tour or Tour de Las Americas, membership to any of which would in turn have secured more sponsorship and heighten its profile.

As such the Open now finds itself playing second fiddle to the far more popular Goslings Invitational, which tees off later this month with a field more than twice the size of that which competed at Tucker's Point, with the pros competing for a slice of the $50,000 on offer.

Maybe Goslings should take over the Open. Clearly they're doing something the BGA are not.

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PE teachers around the Island have every right to feel insulted by remarks made by Philip Butterfield, chairman of the interim executive board on education, earlier this week.

Lashing out at Mike Charles, Butterfield questioned why a former "gym teacher" now union leader should be deemed an opinion maker.

"He's had his 15 minutes of fame," was just one of the snide remarks made by the Bank of Bermuda CEO.

The implication, of course, was that PE teachers are on the bottom rung of the education ladder, and hardly entitled to an opinion that matters.

Those who know Charles, either through his involvement in sport, particularly in athletics, or socially would agree he's articulate, picks his words carefully and certainly doesn't deserve the character assassination to which he was subjected this week.

His contributions to the much maligned education system are for others to judge, but his contributions to Bermuda sports are well documented.

But it would be prudent for someone so highly regarded in the community such as Butterfield to save his criticism until he gets his own house in order.

There can't be an institution on the Island that treats its customers with as much contempt than the Front Street bank.

On any given day, men have been known to grow a beard in the time it takes to get served while waiting for the attention of a teller. As for making a query by phone . . . most of us have given up trying.

– ADRIAN ROBSON