As the 48 player LIV Golf field prepares to divide up their guaranteed cut of US$25 million in the third LIV Golf tournament in New Jersey this week, a humble nine-hole public course in suburban Melbourne faces crunch time in a fight for its very survival.

Coverage of these two issues will be wildly divergent with the disruptor professional circuit undoubtedly generating more digital ‘column inches’ by a factor of several hundred to one.

But if you are a genuine lover of the game, the fate of Northcote Public Golf Course should be of far more interest than the circus that will unfold at Trump Bedminster (or the PGA Tour or other professional Tours this week, it has to be said).

At tonight’s Darerbin City Council meeting, item 8.1 on the agenda is listed as: NORTHCOTE GOLF COURSE – OPERATING MODEL OPTIONS.

The Council will consider a report by Officers into three options for the future operation of the course.”

According to the agenda:

“This report outlines three main options for the management model of the Golf course for Council consideration:

Option A – golf focused

Option B – golf with community use after 3pm

Option C – golf with community use one day a week

On balance Option A (golf focused) is recommended ahead of Option C (golf with one day a week community use), and Option B is not recommended. The main reason for this is that the benefit of community access is not thought to outweigh the greater financial cost of temporal sharing.

The report is clear in its findings, actively recommending against ‘Option B’ which would see a final tee time of 1pm each day (the death knell for the course if adopted). It is also less than enthusiastic about ‘Option C’, closing the course one day per week (Sunday) for uses other than golf.

It recommends – rightly – the course remain dedicated to use for golf during daylight hours, seven days per week.

"What happens this evening will shape the long term future of an important community and golf asset and while you may not live near Darebin, there are very real ramifications for all of us." - Rod Morri.

That outcome, however, is not guaranteed.

As golfers, we should all have much more interest in the fate of Northcote than Norman this week because it is courses like Northcote that sustain the game.

It’s ironic (though not surprising) to think that the professional game likely has far greater impact on the non-golfers of the world than it does those of us who play yet it is often non-golfers making decisions like that regarding Northcote tonight.

The heady mix of Greg Norman’s celebrity and the unfathomable riches of a dark regime in Saudi Arabia has proved too tempting a cocktail for mainstream media to resist.

But we golfers know the truth, that the Northcotes of the world are a vital haven of mental, social and physical wellbeing for millions, completely unrelated to the goings on of pay for play golf.

Ahead of tonight’s meeting golfers have the chance to show support for Northcote by signing a petition set up by the Northcote Community and Golf Hub, a group dedicated to making the course an inclusive and vibrant golf and social centre.

You can sign the petition here (https://www.change.org/p/darebin-city-council-save-the-northcote-public-golf-course) and follow the meeting tonight at a live stream via the Council’s website here (https://www.darebin.vic.gov.au/About-Council/Council-structure-and-performance/Council-and-Committee-Meetings/Council-meetings/Watch-Council-meetings-online).

What happens this evening will shape the long term future of an important community and golf asset and while you may not live near Darebin, there are very real ramifications for all of us.

Whichever way the decision goes it will be something of a precedent. Let’s hope the game prevails.