FORT WORTH, Texas — The new Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational series features eight courses, five in the United States, two of which are owned by a company in Fort Worth.
Escalante Golf is a “boutique” company with a small open-office in the West 7th District. It owns Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club near Portland, and The International, near Boston.
The LIV Golf Invitational Series begins this week with its tournament in London Thursday through Saturday. Its first tournament in the U.S. is scheduled for June 30-July 2 at Pumpkin Ridge. The event at The International is in early September.
Escalante Golf is a part, but not the center, of golf’s most controversial topic in decades — one that could potentially challenge, or at least change, the PGA Tour.
The LIV Golf Invitational Series is a startup professional sporting event in which the people involved are not only not promoting it but they’re also avoiding it. They’re avoiding it for one specific reason.
Saudi Arabia.
Pumpkin Ridge takes issue with Escalante Golf over LIV
Andy McNiece is 77, and a member of the seven-person board at Pumpkin Ridge. He was a member when Escalante bought the club five years ago.
He said the club was informed last year about its potential use as a tournament site for the LIV.
“Our board was incredulous that they would do this without talking to any member whatsoever. That of all of the places to do this, Portland, this is where you’d run the risk of a protest more than any other,” he said.
McNiece said Escalante president David McDonald visited the club last year with his daughter, Ryan, who is the company’s director of organizational development.
According to McNiece, club members had no role in the process. They were told they could email comments or concerns to Ryan McDonald, and that was about it.
“I went in thinking there would be at least a conversation, including where they might say, ‘This was hard. Because there is a moral element,’” McNiece said. “It was all about the money they would get from LIV. That was it.
“They also took the opportunity to announce there would be a dues increase. We were all dumbstruck.”
The Star-Telegram shared McNiece’s comments with McDonald, who declined to comment.
Members of The International and its general manager Steve Brannan did not respond to requests for an interview.
A request to the LIV Golf Invitational Series media relations department was not returned.
Harry Darling is the chairman of the advisory board at Pumpkin Ridge. He said he he felt McNiece represented the feelings of the board but declined further comment.
Golf club members can often be at odds with their club over policies, such as dues increases. It’s not uncommon that a club member will take issue with its club if it hosts a tournament.
However, this does not sound like a club member expressing frustration with the club’s policy of shutting down its course to members for three weeks to prepare for a tournament.
According to its website, Escalante owns and operates 20 courses in the United States, including three in the Houston area.
Founded in 1991, Escalante has slowly bought and managed golf courses over the years.
There is no mention of LIV on the Escalante, Pumpkin Ridge or The International websites.
The Golf League Funded by Saudis
LIV has no major broadcast partner or announced sponsors. Its first tournament will be “televised” on YouTube and Facebook. The league is reportedly funded entirely by the Saudi Sovereign Fund, which is estimated to be worth in excess of $1 trillion.
The fund was started in 1971 to finance projects for the improvement of the Saudi Arabia’s economy. The fund is global, and Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud has access to it as he serves as the nation’s chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs.
According to the U.S. State Department, the fund is not the problem. The practices by the nation’s ruling monarchy is the issue.
And there is no real separation between the fund and the monarchy.
A 2020 State Department report found the regime is responsible for unlawful killings, executes people for nonviolent offenses and places restrictions the press and the internet.
Saudi Arabia and its Saudi Sovereign Fund are embedded in sports.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is a staple on the Formula 1 circuit. McLaren Racing received $760 million from the fund in 2021, according to Bloomberg, McLaren’s headquarters are in England.
Formula 1 racing is owned by Colorado-based Liberty Media. It receives millions from the Saudis to stage an F1 race in the kingdom.
The fund also supports the Saudi International, an annual golf tournament on the Asian Tour held near Jeddah.
With the promise of tens to hundreds of millions of dollars and an enticing new format, LIV Golf has successfully recruited a few of golf’s more recognized names, notably Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. But other than LIV de facto spokesperson Greg Norman, no one promotes it.
All three reportedly are promised more than $100 million to be a part of this league. According to the Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine, Mickelson is guaranteed $200 million.
Kevin Na, who won the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, recently announced he’s playing in the LIV.
The players are willing to potentially give up their place on the PGA Tour because the payouts LIV promises dwarf that of the Tour.
The PGA Tour has made it known to its players that they face potential discipline if they play in the LIV series. The quiet threat is they will not be allowed to play in golf’s majors, such as The Masters and the U.S. Open.
It sets up a potential legal fight between the Tour and its players, who are not PGA Tour employees.
All of it is complicated.
All of it is interesting.
Much of it is lucrative.
Which is why so many people from Fort Worth to Oregon to Massachusetts do not want to talk about it.
