Hard to believe that another year has come and gone, boy time really flies when you get older.
Many wonder how good 2009 is going to be after the shaky ending to 2008 with the economy being the way it was and the John Daly saga. Still I feel that 2009 can be a very good year on a numerous of fronts, so let's take a look into my crystal ball and I will tell you what to look forward too.

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Photo: © Michael Cohen/Getty Images How the economics of golf will be like in 2009.

The first part of the year will be tough and hopefully it will get better by the summer. Still I see two PGA Tour events fall after this year, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and the Buick Open. For the Hope it will be a serious fall from grace as it was one of the big events in the 90s but today it has a tough time getting marquee players because of it's format of 90 holes over four different courses with amateurs. The market place in Palm Springs is very limited and officials haven't had to scramble for a sponsor ever. With the terrible outlook for it's sponsor Chrysler, they may have to bow out either by bankruptcy or government intervention. The same with General Motors, which sponsors the Buick Invitational and the Buick Open. For the Buick Invitaitonal, it will find someone new. Being in the rich Southern California area they will bounce back and find a solution, as for the Buick Open in Lansing I can't see the same. The Michigan area is very depress and I can't see anyway coming to its rescue for the event surviving after this year.

The LPGA Tour is another story, with only five sponsors signed up in domestic events I can't see all of the events surviving. Just like with ADT, the consensus is that a sponsor like Corning has a easy out once the contract expires after this year, especially if the LPGA tries to strong arm the event for more money, like they tried to do with ADT. All of this could will spell the end of that event. I can see anywhere from five to seven sponsors having tournaments like the Ginn Open, Corning Classic, P&G beauty, Navistar LPGA, Kapalua and Longs Drug looking hard on weather to sign on again or not. We also have to see what the LPGA will do with the Phoenix and McDonald's events, both of these events don't have sponsors signed up for 2010.

As for the European Tour they are right now on steady grounds but they have their future based on the future of the country of Dubai. The country is a shining light right now, but as we know Dubai is very extended on the credit market and looking to sell not only a lot of high profile land projects but also buildings. So Dubai could suffer big time if the economy gets worst, thus would spell big problems for the European Tour.

Lastly for players getting sponsors and equipment contracts will dry up in '09. The LPGA Tour has suffered this faith for a couple of years now and a lot of fringe players will find themselves without equipment deals. Also players have enjoyed a lot of sponsor days where they attend a companies day of golf with players getting expenses and anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000. That will certainly dry up in '09.

• Next look at '09
• Golf and the Media in 2009 click page