If you thought Monday's announcement about how the RCGA was going to spice up the RBC Canadian Open was bold, you should have been on today's conference call.
Scott Simmons, the newish (since last July) CEO, was one of several senior RCGA staff and volunteers who were involved in explaining the association's Vision 2010 strategic plan to the media.
To their credit, Simmons and the rest, including President Andrew Cook, didn't dodge a punch. I've known both men for years, and they are genuine and straightforward.
That's one reason I'm prepared to give them and Vision 2010 a fighting chance. It was refreshing to see frank mentions in the document of the RCGA's lack of relevance to the average golfer (six percent of the six million golfers in this country are RCGA members) and the pressing need for a "leaner, more focused" governance model.
Another positive sign, at least from an external perception, was the section of the document titled "Facing the Brutal Facts." The blinders are off, and the days of simply mouthing the mantra that "We are the governing body of golf" are no longer enough to justify the RCGA's existence.
Simmons said they understand that most golfers "just want to go out and play golf" and don't care about most of the trappings that accompany membership in the national and provincial golf associations. The organization, which talked to industry stakeholders -- including me and other golf media types -- prior to preparing Vision 2010, is conducting ongoing surveys with average golfers to further focus their goals.
Some of the motivation for this document can certainly be credited to Ottawa's recent designation of the RCGA as a National Sport Organization and the fact that the association is bleeding money from every orifice.
Despite that, it's my gut feeling that Simmons and Cook and the surviving staff are trying their very best to turn around this behemoth before it's too late. The question is whether the organization, moribund in its traditions and feudal governance, wants to heed those at the helm.