After losing the All-Star Game, Governor McCrory heard from another sector of that “sports and entertainment elite” last week: golfers.
The PGA released the following statement on Thursday: “The PGA of America strongly opposes North Carolina HB2. It contradicts our commitment to create an inclusive and welcoming environment at our events. We remain hopeful that the law will be changed.”
There’s no threat, even implicitly, that the PGA plans to move the PGA Championship, scheduled for August 2017. The statement makes that clearalbeit with a laudable poke in the eyes of HB 2 supporters. “Since the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte is a private facility not subject to the provisions of HB 2, at the 2017 PGA Championship, we plan to allow spectators to use the restroom that conforms to their gender identity or gender expression.”
And then, there’s a warning: “As we look to future events, our willingness to consider coming back to the State of North Carolina will be severely impacted unless HB2 is overturned.”
The championship tournament is already booked elsewhere through at least 2020, according to PGA spokesperson Jamie Carbone. However, the PGA’s statement opens up the possibility that the annual Wells-Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow (next year, it will move to Wilmington) could be in jeopardy, as well as the annual Symetra Classic, a Charlotte stop on the LGPA’s developmental tour.
