Tiger Woods forgets the common man for his first golf course

With more than a hint of bitterness, I embark upon this blog. This blog, about a golf course that I will never play, assesses the enigma that is the Tiger formerly known as Eldrick. To borrow a few bars from a sports illustrated article on the next course to come to Dubai, we hear that Tiger has selected the Middle Eastern kingdom to “…hopefully create a memorable, everlasting legacy.” A legacy of what, filthy riches? A legacy for whom, the chosen half dozen? A legacy for when, his own lifetime? To say that I am disappointed in Earl and Kultida’s son is an understatement.

To be fair, the pressure thrust upon a young man of dark skin pigmentation was beyond what anyone should ever sustain. Pressure to do what? To revolutionize a white man’s, no, make that a boring white man’s game, to bring it into a new era, where other boys and men of color would more than dot the professional landscape. If that was the goal, well, it’s not the reality. After all, how could one young man be expected to give other young men the force of spirit and strength of heart that he had worked so long to hone? They would have to find it themselves. That they have not, cannot be pinned on him.

What can be pinned on Tiger, however, is to follow up on the learning center that he created in California. That learning center, built for kids of middle class and lower class status, was a legacy. His second, third, and fourth golf courses, for all I care, could be built in DubaiLand, or whatever that theme park in the desert is called. Why the first? Why not drop the first in some blighted urban landscape, like the east side of Buffalo, or the south side of Chicago, or any side of Detroit? Why not create a legacy for people who have no legacy, instead of a playground for people who might never appreciate it?