As a native Baltimorean, I naturally have a special appreciation for the courses we have here. And there is no doubt that most golf architects would describe A.W. Tillinghast's Baltimore Country Club as a gem.
Nevertheless, the Senior Players Championship, which has a deal to stay at the club through 2010, could be susceptible to the turbulent economy. The host of the tournament, Constellation Energy, was sold to MidAmerican, and there are some doubts as to whether or not a contract will be renewed. As Dave Shedloski writes for the October 17 edition of Golf World:
There was plenty to wonder about during the week at Baltimore CC. When the 78-man field wasn't grinding over the tilting, tempestuous A.W. Tillinghast greens, they were gnashing their teeth over the plummeting stock market. Weeks earlier, one stock that had taken a beating was Constellation Energy, the title sponsor, and Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, snapped up the company Sept. 18 for $4.7 billion. What that means for the future of the Senior Players at Baltimore CC was unclear. Constellation Energy is signed on through 2010.
"Right now, everything is status quo," said Mike Stevens, president of the Champions Tour, who assured that senior golf was on solid financial footing for at least 26 events in 2009.
Leaving Baltimore CC would be a blow because the majority of players revere the venue like few others on the schedule. "This is one of the best we play, easily top five," Loren Roberts, the '07 champion, said. "We don't play many golf courses of this pedigree very often. This is really a privilege."
