“Years of declining participation have damaged the sport’s future and mired its top businesses in sand traps,” says the Washington Post, here:

Golf Is Back in the Olympics. Too Bad No One Plays It Anymore.

The Post also states that a “June [2016] report on the golf business by industry researcher IBISWorld noted a ‘high supply’ of golf courses but ‘low enthusiasm’ of customers, and pointed to a ‘waning interest in the sport among all but its eldest target demographics.’ ”

Another source says, “From the golf industry statistics, we know that rounds are down. We know that millennials are not picking up the game, and boomers are aging out. The game is in decline,” said a representative of a golf industry research firm last month. Athletic-apparel brand Nike announced that it will no longer sell golf clubs, balls, and bags. They’ll keep selling golf footwear and apparel, however. Read about it here:

Nike Ends Golf Equipment Business

It only makes sense to put so much into Pacific Gales (so far, at least three years of work and untold dollars) if golf is just the opening shot of a bigger strategy.

Pacific Gales is, after all, a project of Elk River Property Development.