Reshoot: Overcoming media portrayal, public perceptions

Once again, golf is painted as a culprit when it comes to water.

The industry’s very visibility and apparent thirst has long made it a convenient target. “Rango” is just one more entity to pile on. But the irony is that golf — perhaps nowhere more so than in Las Vegas — is among the most miserly when it comes to efficient use of the resource. Time and again, serious examinations across the country show golf to be a prudent consumer.

Yet, rarely is that the initial response among lawmakers, regulators, the general public or even golfers themselves. The “Rango” scene, witnessed by a $240-million audience so far, is emblematic of the more widely held perception. A perception that looms as a serious burden for the industry in a world where influencers from the United Nations to local governments anticipate grave water shortages.

On the back of that alarm, in what it said was “the most important article we’ve ever published,” Golf Digest in 2008 declared, “Golf will face a crisis over water,there simply won’t be enough to go around for golf courses to continue what they’ve been doing.”

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