I had just dropped my son off at the ATL airport yesterday and was heading home when an advert for Delta Airlines came on the radio. A new non-stop flight from ATL to Traverse City was being promoted. That's a good thing for folks in the SE. (On prior visits to TC we flew into Flint and rented a car. It's a long car ride. The alternative, taking a puddle-jumper into TC, is expensive.)
What surprised me was that the radio spot was based on an appeal to golfers, calling TC the "summer headquarters for golf" or something like that. Then the announcer reeled off the names of famous architects who had done courses in the area, from Nicklaus, to RTJ, to Fazio and so on. (No mention of Doak, unfortunately.)
Two things struck me. First, the celebrity of certain golf architects and their role in marketing travel. The advert simply assumed their names would be familiar to the generic radio listener.
Second, is it possible that a new Delta route was created solely on the strength of potential golf travel to the area? Is golf travel now that big?
More broadly, is that a good thing or a sign the apocalypse is upon us?
Bob