11/16/2012: Greg Bolt has the story in the RG on the efforts of a group of UO alums to use tax deductible contributions to build a golf course for themselves and the Ducks. How does this relate to our academic mission? Meanwhile the athletic department has not said a word about any of this to the UO Senate Intercollegiate Athletics Committee.
11/172012 update: John Paul of the WSJ explains how this scam works in Oklahoma thanks in part to T. Boone Pickens:
College sports doesn’t get much plusher than playing golf for Oklahoma State. The Karsten Creek golf facility, a few miles off campus, features a rolling, wooded, difficult, 7,407-yard Tom Fazio course, expansive practice grounds, both indoors and out, with all the latest technology, a $4.5 million clubhouse and luxurious, six-bedroom lodges where visiting alumni can stay. Most remarkable of all, the entire 650-acre complex is owned not by the university but in effect by the golf team. Karsten Creek, which opened in 1994, was built and is still owned by a charity whose sole purpose is to benefit the men’s and women’s golf teams.
Faculty, staff, other students? They can’t play unless they pay a deliberately outrageous $300 green fee or are the guests of the limited number of local and national members. “We like having a few successful grown-ups around as members so the team will have role models,” said Mike McGraw, the men’s golf coach.
By the time a project sees the light of day, it’s already a done deal.
UO Leaders. Successful? Yes. Grown ups? Hardly.
It’s a good thing that the use of the golf course benefits the men’s and women’s golf teams, but is not it too much for $300 green fee? I surely can support in other ways.
Mike
CesarsGolfRentals.com – rents and delivers golf clubs in Fort Lauderdale