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I’m getting a bit tired of reading about the “problems” with golf. Check out a recent article in GolfWorld Magazine titled “Intensifying the Solutions Search- Hack Golf Seeks Grow-the-Game Ideas From Any and All”: “…Golf participation is dwindling in the United States, and there is no indication the decline is about to stop. According to Joe Beditz, CEO of the NGF (National Golf Foundation), the game has lost 5 million golfers in the last decade. Moreover, the number of core golfers-defined by the NGF as playing at least 8 times a year, a subset that is responsible for 90 percent of the rounds played and spending in golf- has dropped by 25 percent. Golfers ages 18-34 used to comprise 18 percent of golfers; that group has dipped to only 11 percent”. “The research tells us the answer is very simple,” said Beditz. “They’re just not having fun”.
The article continues with this: “Gary Hamel, a well-known business strategist engaged in the project, elaborated on why that may be so. “My gosh, can golf be tough,” Hamel said. “There’s the byzantine rules, the glacial learning pace, all those intimidating rituals, the puzzling kind of etiquette, the stuffy elitism.
If you take a look at just who is so gung-ho about having the whole world take up the game it is obvious that the number one concern is money. Just about every company and organization that has built its success on the seemingly ever-increasing popularity of the game finds itself in a bind. Much like any economic bubble, the thought that participation numbers would continually rise has led to a vast over expansion of just about everything involved in the business of the game. Driven by the real estate boom prior to 2008 golf courses surrounded by housing developments sprung up like mushrooms, many times right down the street from each other. Equipment companies are under such pressure to maintain market shares and increase profitability that they unveil entirely new product lines every 6 months. The PGA of America churns out graduates from Professional Golf Management Programs at colleges across the country that arrive in the market place with “Class A” status and no experience. In order to sustain this kind of growth more and more people have to play golf. And as you just read in the above snippets, that is not happening.
So, is that the fault of the game? I think not. The game attracts who it attracts. It is the same game today that Ouimet played at Brookline, that Jones played at Merion, that Hogan played at Carnoustie, that Palmer played at Cherry Hills, that Nicklaus played at Augusta, and that Tiger played at Pebble Beach. You get your bag of clubs, take them to the first tee, and tee it up. The challenge has been the same for hundreds of years. Listening to guys like Gary Hamel rip the game just chaps me to no end. Yes, golf is hard. That’s why we like it. It’s not bowling. Yes, the rules are intricate. So read them and learn them. They help create a level playing field for all. Yes, the learning pace is slow and takes study, and work, to acquire the skills necessary to play at a decent level. The rituals are called traditions. Every great sport has them. The etiquette makes the game one of the last repositories of common courtesy. It takes 4 hours to play a round of golf on a difficult course because that’s how long it takes. Every shot requires decision making that involves a myriad of factors. Our greatest players have been revered for their grace under pressure, and almost all have been studied and deliberate. When players care about the shots they hit they don’t just walk up and hit the ball without thought. Are some too slow? Absolutely. Is that the fault of the game? Not at all.
The real point here is that the game is simply not for everyone. All of America is not going to play golf for a number of reasons. I have touched on the rigors of the game as an enticement for some, but the sheer difficulty and almost certain lack of instant gratification does not go along well with a society that is becoming used to having everything on their fingertips in the wink of an eye. A round of golf requires intense concentration for long periods. It should be fairly obvious that in today’s world that is asking perhaps too much if you want everyone to play. When you think about who has the time and discretionary income to play the game seriously you have to go right to the people with money. It is no coincidence that as the middle class has struggled so has participation in golf. There wasn’t a problem in this sense until the business of the game became so big that everyone and their brother had to play in order for profit margins to increase. Golf is and always has been a game for the wealthy, and when everyone is trying to make a living at it no one is giving it away cheap. Joining a club is expensive, buying clubs is expensive, taking lessons is expensive, and playing a round of golf at a decent course is expensive. I’m not judging the merits of that; I’m just stating the facts. How are you going to get the whole world to play golf when families can barely afford to send their kids to college? Before the recession the middle class was just about feeling that they could afford golf, along with a nicer house than they had ever owned. The wealthy were already members of the best clubs and took the trips to play the best public courses (that cost upwards of $400 a round to play), but the rest of the world felt like things were getting better and they were rewarding themselves with new equipment and more rounds of golf. When the housing bubble burst the golf business essentially burst with it. What do you think is going to be the first expense cut when the house loses 40% of its value and the pensions and retirement plans go down the tubes? Of course, leisure activity such as golf will suffer. I know first- hand how the lesson business was negatively affected by the economic downturn. People were not taking as many lessons, and they were dropping out of their clubs in fairly large numbers. Clubs everywhere are still offering sweetheart deals to join, many times for dues only with no initiation fee. Many more are simply going out of business, plowed under to build more houses and apartments.
This is the world we live in. The pressures to make a living are relentless. The idea that you can provide your children with a better life than you had is fast fading. Most are happy just to be able to get their kids a good education. Debt is a way of life. Golf is time consuming, difficult, and expensive. But then again, it always was. That is the nature of the game. You can make it easier and change it all around to get more people attracted to it, but if you do that make sure to call it something else. Golf is the game Jones and Hogan and Nicklaus played. Today the professionals and high level amateurs still play the same game. Millions of people love the game and play it often. But it’s not for everyone. And if you think that it’s a huge problem that we can’t get everyone to play and that the game itself is at fault I have to disagree with you. I think the game is fine, and if anything we may just need to shrink the game instead of insisting that it needs to grow.
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