Is the World Golf Hall of Fame’s days numbered in St. Augustine? The clock is ticking

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Buried in the shadow of the World Hall of Fame is a time capsule containing one item of significance contributed by each golf organization supporting the World Golf Hall of Fame, and each organization’s vision for golf in 50 years. Johnny Miller, in his NBC Sports blazer, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead were among the dignitaries that attended the ceremony to honor the game on March 26, 1997.

On the night that Tiger Woods will receive golf’s highest honor, a question has emerged: Will the World Golf Hall of Fame still be a monument to the game and its greatest players and contributors in 2047 when it’s time to open the time capsule? There’s an Augusta National green jacket down there, for goodness sakes!

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan addressed the elephant in the room during his news conference at the Players Championship on Tuesday.

“We’re committed to the World Golf Hall of Fame through 2023,” he said, noting a date that marks the end of its 25-year lease and bond agreement with the state of Florida. “We’re looking at all of our options as we go forward. We’re fortunate to have been in St. Augustine for 25 years and are proud of the presence that we’ve created there.”

But… “The business of the Hall of Fame and the way that people consume Hall of Fames has changed, and we just want to make certain that any decision that we make about the next 25 years maximizes our ability to showcase the incredible careers and impact that every single member that’s in the Hall of Fame has had on our game,” Monahan added.

In other words, the World Golf Hall of Fame is officially on the clock.

Back when it opened in May 1998, it would’ve been unimaginable to think that the Hall could have failed. Yours truly was there for the grand opening, a lowly publications and website coordinator, but a fly on the wall to witness Hale Irwin apply lipstick to Nancy Lopez in the ‘green room’ and to hear Gene Sarazen pronounce the Hall as “beyond my wildest dreams.”

With a brand-new interchange off Interstate 95 and a location 20 miles south of Jacksonville, one million visitors were projected to pull off and attend the Hall and IMAX Theater, the 400,000 square feet of shops anchored by a 32,000-square-foot golf shop, golf-themed restaurants and two championship courses that would host a PGA Tour Champions event and episodes of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf.

As my original boss recalled not long ago, “it was like building Las Vegas in the middle of the desert, but without the gambling, the people and the desert.”

LPGA Hall of Fame member Pat Bradley, who attended the first induction when Nick Faldo and Miller joined the exclusive membership, summed up what it meant to have a place where the greats of the game were celebrated: “It’s thrilling to know that long after I’ve left this world, people can gather and see the history of golf in this facility.”

Pat Bradley attends the 2017 World Golf Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony in New York City. (Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

But will they? While the real estate that was built around it sold out and grew into a thriving community, the other commercial aspects of the World Golf Hall of Fame languished. The PGA Tour Stop? It closed and became office space for the First Tee until those employees moved into the new PGA Tour headquarters last year. It’s now leased by Reverb Church, a non-denominational megachurch. No truth to the rumors that the property owner shouted hallelujah to have found a new tenant.

The only remaining restaurant along the Walk of Champions is the Murray Bros. Caddyshack. The Hall has closed its putting course and snack bar and the Tour is currently building a new facility for PGA Tour Entertainment in Ponte Vedra Beach next to its Global Home that should be ready in 2023, meaning more empty commercial space is coming to the Walk of Champions. Given that World Golf Foundation CEO Greg McLaughlin, who earned more than $700,000 according to the non-profit’s Form 990 in 2018, is working out of the Global Home and not at the Hall of Fame that he runs, the writing is on the wall that the Hall, which suffers from low attendance, will be next to depart.

The Slammer & Squire at World Golf Village and the World Golf Hall of Fame in Florida. (Courtesy of the World Golf Village)

Monahan, to his credit, told me that figuring out the future of the Hall is a priority. Golf deserves to have its own version of Cooperstown, a shrine to celebrate the global game under one roof. It was an ambitious project that was supposed to be supported by all of golf’s participating organizations, but the bill ultimately was footed by the PGA Tour. (According to the World Golf Foundation’s Form 990, the induction ceremony costs nearly $1 million to put on, but some of that expense will be offset by charging a “donation” of $5,000 per ticket to attend Tiger’s ceremony on March 9.)

If it is to continue as a going concern, it should be considered a marketing expense. During the same news conference, Monahan noted that the Tour’s reserves total $221 million. Time to pump some of that money into breathing new life into the exhibits, which were cutting edge when I worked there but no longer are cutting it. (And, please, do us all a favor and make a new commercial!) Those exhibits should be interactive and heavy on Jack, Arnie, Gary and Nancy but even more so Tiger, Phil and Annika. It’s also time for the U.S. Golf Association and PGA of America, which have their own respective museums, and others who profit off the PGA Tour stars, to pony up too. Either that, or the Hall needs a white knight such as a Herb Kohler or Mike Keiser type that loves the game.

Maybe the uncertain future of the Hall at the World Golf Village shouldn’t be that surprising. After all, the previous version of the Hall closed at Pinehurst, North Carolina, where the only attendance spike was on rainy days. Here’s hoping history won’t repeat itself. There has been talk about a virtual Hall of Fame, and while that may make good business sense – a lot cheaper than the current lease – the men and women who have earned plaques deserve better than that. The Hall needs a reboot, but another home? The clock is ticking.