Thus the Financial Times today. “When businesses turn into a caricature of themselves, something has gone wrong,” elaborates the newspaper. It is good to remember that golf is a business rather than a sport. Many a confusion disappears at once. And the reason for it turning into a caricature of itself is of some vintage today. The onset of the global financial crisis in 2008 was the beginning of golf’s demise over much of the wannabe rich world. The explosion of interest in the supposed sport started with the preceding boom, which was about real estate and nothing but real estate. The hunger for new assets presented itself in the guise of the posh sport in many countries that had little if any experience with golf. For instance, it suddenly burst the Iron Curtain of old. Croatia was among the countries in question. And so was Ukraine, Russia, and beyond. The bust killed the sport in a jiffy, though. And the vaunted love of sport showed itself for what it was—an insatiable hunger for real estate assets. So much for the news customers, too.