Like every other facet of life, golf will inevitably be a different game when all this is over. It’s just unclear at this point what that different might be.

At the professional level it is difficult to imagine there will be as many sponsors willing to pony as much money to support the week to week product as has been the case since the late 90’s.

The ’Tiger effect’ of the latter part of the last century may not have led to the expected explosion in playing numbers but it most definitely had an impact on his professional brethren and the sums they compete for.

While not solely due to Woods’ emergence (many sports were part of the ‘boom’ of the time) golf was lucky to have such a compelling player front and centre to cash in on the rivers of gold flowing from the world of television and sponsors at the time.

Twenty-something years later the tables have turned completely and while Woods remains one of world sport’s hottest properties, his presence is of little value if there are no tournaments for him to play.

The crowds will return but there will be less sponsors despite Tiger Woods' presence. PHOTO: Getty Images.

While sponsors will face new financial realities, television networks, too, will be sharpening their pencils and rethinking how much they pay for sport and, perhaps of greater concern, which sports they are prepared to pay for.

The PGA Tour will undoubtedly be impacted but it is possible those further down the food chain – the secondary and international Tours like our own here in Australia – will be impacted more.

There will be difficult times ahead but golf has endured everything the world has thrown at it for more than five centuries.

And that’s just the world of professional golf. In the world of club golf, things are even more serious.

As unpalatable as it is to consider, the reality must be faced that some clubs will not survive this pandemic.

A Golf Australia study a couple of years ago identified more than 50 per cent of the nation’s golf facilities as being under financial stress and, for at least some of those, this virus will be the final straw.

It is a sad reality but in harsh economic terms the market has been due for this ‘correction’ for some time and while the loss of any golf club is an event to be mourned there will also be opportunities, for those who think creatively, to make the game and clubs stronger into the future.

It’s been a long time since the world was confronted with an event as universally damaging as this virus has proved to be.

The two World Wars of last century are the most comparable and perhaps now is the time to look back for inspiration about shaping the future.

There will be difficult times ahead but golf has endured everything the world has thrown at it for more than five centuries.

It will do so again in the 21st century, it’s just uncertain right now what that will look like.