Do you think that maybe someday there will be no need to yell “fore” on the golf course?
There is the possibly that there will be fewer people out on the course. The story is that golf is losing some of its charisma as the sport of leisure and as one of America’s favorite pastimes.
Why? One theory says it’s because of the length of a round of golf, which can take a long time to play. Eighteen holes of golf can sometimes last between three to four hours for a round. Just how crowded it is, and how fast people can play, will determine the time for a round.
Another reason for a popularity decline is the expense of the game. If you are playing at a golf course, the cost can be from a modest green fee of around $40, or a not so modest $400, an investment from $250 to $800 for clubs and bag, a decent number of golf balls (at least a dozen in your golf bag) and a glove for your opposite hand as your investment begins to add up. To be fair, new clubs are generally a one-time investment.
Memberships to a country club has its costs. A membership can be way out there, financially speaking, ranging from $2,000 a year to an exuberant $20,000 to $50,000.
The first year can include an initiation fee, from $500 to thousands of dollars. And, as a member of a country club, you are expected to spend a certain amount of money each month in the club house eatery.
Then there’s the learning process.
To be respected as a decent golfer, you have to know what the capabilities are of your clubs—from the driver to the pitching wedge (up to 14 clubs in the bag) and, of course, the putter. Maybe the added expense of lessons and playing quite often will be the only way to develop a decent game.
Let’s be fair and face it, everything has its price.
The biggest factor of golf’s description is the time it takes to learn the game, and to stay on top of the game by practicing. Not to mention that, when joining a country club, one wants to be able to get his, or her, money’s worth out of the investment.
Just recently, on SiriusXM’s (satellite radio) PGA Tour Radio, the talk show was jam packed with concerned golfers about the future of the game. In a recent broadcast, it was mentioned that attendance is slowly sinking at the 15,500 courses across the country.
Also, it was stated that the count of the number of courses is shrinking by 100 per year.
Hank Haney, who is the morning show host of Hank Haney Golf Radio, feels that golf’s loss of popularity might have something to do with the economy.
“A lot of people now consider it unaffordable,” said Haney.
He went on to discuss that added to the overall diminishment of adult leisure time, the message is simple: “Even if our discretionary income wasn’t under siege, who has the time to play golf anymore? Clearly, if the game was invented today it would be much, much different.”
He goes on to suggest that in today’s lifestyle it wouldn’t be 18 holes; it would be 12.
“You’d use less water, a third less land, a third less time, and operators would have a third less maintenance costs.”
Actions are being done to create more interest in the game.
“Going forward, I think that there might be four or five or six different variations of the game,” said Steve Mona, CEO of the World Golf Foundation, a Florida-based nonprofit whose initiatives for ensuing golf's future include the First Tee program for kids.
This is a program that will help youngsters begin their interest in the game of golf. Mona also feels that these programs will create some interest from more women and minorities. This synopsis is of a paragraph that was in an article from “Southwest: The Magazine,” entitled “Into the Rough.”
From that article, I think Mona hits the target, dead center.
Mona was questioned by the interviewer and writer of the article, “Into the Rough,” John McAlley.
McAlley asked how he (Mona) thought the game could be more accessible and inclusive.
Mona’s reply was, “Income is the most direct indicator of participation in golf. If we can create greater economic diversity in our country, you’ll see greater diversity in golf.”
I think the game of golf is still pretty popular among the baby boomers. Younger people might like trying the game, giving into the idea to the proposed shorten time as an incentive to playing.
As for Mona’s suggestion relating to economic diversity, well, that surely isn’t going to happen for a long time.
First, our politicians need to be more diverse and willing to open more opportunities for people to live more comfortably, and then maybe it will trickle down to having an interest in the game of golf because of affordability!
Our leisure time and what we do with it is driven by discretionary money and so goes the economy.
