It’s July in Arizona and the heat is oppressive, a brutal 110 degrees. A driver with his air conditioning on full blast looks out his car window as the brown desert gives way to lush, green grass. It’s a golf course, and the sprinklers are on. The driver, a non-golfer, frowns. Surely so much of this water is being wasted, he thinks.
The Arizona Alliance for Golf wants to flip this belief on its head.
“We need to convince the 90 percent of people who drive around and see the sprinklers to look and say, ‘Oh. That’s a good thing,’ ” said Mike Petty, the alliance’s communications director.
Founded in 2020, the Arizona Alliance for Golf seeks to protect the game in Arizona while educating golfers and non-golfers alike about golf’s benefits. Golfers and clubs aren’t the only beneficiaries. Add restaurants, tourism, small businesses and the state as a whole to the list.
To spread its message and influence legislation, the alliance has to combat the misconceptions many have about golf, especially about water usage.
“Golf has been foundational...