Here’s your chance to get into the golf business. An occasional advertiser at GolfBlogger, the NJGolfman, has his entire retail golf store for sale. That includes the brick-and-mortar and internet shops, apparently.

Bidding starts at $355,000.

Gatorade announced that it is dropping Tiger Woods as a sponsor. On the surface, it looks as thought they weren’t terribly impressed with the mea culpa. Gillette hasn’t dropped him officially, but has suspended all Tiger advertising, calling him a “distraction.” I think what that means it that P&G’s lawyers and Tiger’s lawyers haven’t yet worked out an amenable buyout.

By my count (I’m probably forgetting something), that leaves Tiger with just two high profile deals: Nike and Electronic Arts, makers of the Tiger Woods video game. Nike is in too deep to get out. I predict that EA will drop him in the next year in favor of a general PGA Tour game, with several top young guns as the hook. Picture a box with Kim, Villegas, and several other under 30 “hip” players smiling out at you. They could sign the whole lot for less than they pay Woods.

I always thought that the Woods Gatorade was an exercise in creepiness anyway. The advertising bragged that they had analyzed Woods’ sweat and come up with a chemical substitute. So, in essence, you were drinking Woods’ sweat—however much flavor they added. I often joked that the only person who should be tasting Woody’s sweat was Elin. But knowing what we know now ...

Hey! Maybe he could sign a deal with PETA. Their Too Much Sex Can Be A Bad Thing For Little Tigers Too non-campaign certainly was a hit.

Golf Clubs in financial crisis isn’t just a US phenomenon. Declining membership and the recession have also hit golf in its homeland:

In the past, the majority of clubs in the Lothians, which has more golf courses than anywhere else in Scotland, had long waiting lists and talk of financial troubles was as rare as a sighting of Tiger Woods since his world was turned upside down.

But, as the sport continues to suffer from the recession – in Scotland alone membership levels are down 2.6 per cent in the men’s game and 4.6 per cent in the women’s game – even some of the more established clubs in the Capital and surrounding areas are feeling the pinch.

They have been forced to put up huge banners in prominent positions on clubhouses to advertise memberships, have held Open Days to let potential members see what’s on offer and, in some cases, have even scrapped their joining fee.

Desperate times have called for desperate measures and one club has even dispensed with both its professional and secretary in a bid to cut costs.

But Scots aren’t giving up their golf altogether. Play at municipal courses is up.

That mirrors my own experience. Several years ago, I decided that I couldn’t play enough golf to justify my private club membership and quit the club. Now, I play on the dozens of public and municipal courses in Southeastern Michigan, and am enjoying the variety. In the meantime, my former Club has gone bankrupt and been bought out.

What will Woody’s absence cost golf? Perhaps not as much as you might think, according to Larry Novenstern, executive vice president of Optimedia, an advertising services company:

For the 15 or so tournaments where Woods might have been expected to play this year, Novenstern estimated the resulting advertisingloss to networks would total between $10 million and $20 million. In comparison to other economic hardships challenging broadcasters right now, he says, “This is just a speed bump.

And what about the 20% to 50% loss in viewers in Tigerless Tournaments?

“But a certain percent of Tiger’s audience is not the traditional golf audience and, in effect, is not what many advertisers are looking for,” says Neal Pilson, president of Pilson Communications, a media consulting firm, and a former president of CBS Sports. “If Tiger’s in an event, you expect a 50 percent increase in ratings. You don’t necessarily negotiate a 50 percent increase in the advertising rate.”

So the casual viewers are nice, but they’re not what the advertisers are looking for, or necessarily counting on. It supports my thesis that Tiger’s impact is not as big as everyone thinks.

If you thought pro golf was in trouble, how about this: David Stern says that the NBA will lose $400 million this year.

It’s the insane salaries, of course. And the culprits aren’t the players, but the owners. No one says team owners have to pay $80 million to a kid who barely got out of high school. They choose to do that. If just half the owners had acted like a fiscally responsible, rational adults and refused to feed player demands, the madness would have stopped. There are only so many teams, and so many roster spots. After the Lakers, Knicks, Bulls, Pistons, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Celtics and Rockets spent their millions, where would the rest of the free agents go? If I was the owner of one of the bottom half teams in profitability—the Bucs, Hornets, Timberwolves, etc.—I simply would tell the free agents that I wasn’t paying more than the league minimum. They could take it or leave it. And since the top teams already had their fill, what alternative would they have?

With a much smaller salary, those smaller market teams would be able to lower ticket prices drastically, put butts in the seats and still make a profit. It would take guts and nerves of steel for the small market owners, but it would keep them in the black.

Which brings me back to professional golf. The PGA Tour has managed to find sponsors for its events this year, presumably at the price they demanded. But I wonder if Finchem and company shouldn’t take the long view and begin reducing sponsor costs and purses. Tiger, as this past year’s events have shown, won’t be around forever. A gradual but steady reduction in prices over the course of Tiger’s remaining career is the only prudent course of action.

The players won’t like it, but what choice would they have? If they want to play, they play for the purses offered. Defecting to the European Tour would not be an option, as their total purse is approximately $145 million, compared to the PGA Tour’s $275 million.

The hard line likely would have benefits other than financial stability. Players would have to play more often, and more aggressively. No longer would they be able to become a millionaire out of a career of 30th place finishes. And we likely wouldn’t see players hanging on for decades in 100th place on the money list. They wouldn’t be able to afford it. Instead, room would be made for fresh talent, thereby increasing the competition.

The alternative to getting a grip on the finances now is an NBA-like meltdown at Tiger’s retirement, with suddenly crashing tournaments, prizes and sponsorships.