Clocking progress after 15 years of attempting to grow game
By Phil Kosin Chicagoland Golf editor (From May 1, 2007 issue) In the last issue, in making a blunt assessment of why in 2006 – for the first time since the Depression – more [18-hole equalavent] golf courses closed in the U.S. than new ones opened, I made a statement that “failure by the ENTIRE industry to grow the game” was one of the prime reasons.
Of course, it is a generalization that works for me – regarding the industry as a whole. There have been individual, scattered success stories, but far too infrequent. I also said that too many junior golf programs are “lip service” and I stand by that. In fact, when it comes to actually solving the game’s problems, the industry has taken the corporate approach to problems – having well-publicized seminars and meetings and then waiting for someone else to do it.
So to assess the progress gained from such industry talks, I thought I’d dig out a list of “20 recommended action ideas” for ensuring the game’s continuing good health and growth. The list of ideas was one of the major outcomes of Golf Summit ‘92, which was 15 years ago. It was fourth in a series of biennial leadership forums hosted by the National Golf Foundation. It emerged from two days of discussion and consensus-building by the more than 300 industry leaders who participated in the event in Orlando.
My comments are inserted in sans-serif bold type.
Here’s where the ideas originated: working in tables of eight, attendees were asked to identify those actions they felt could and should be undertaken in the next two years (before the next Golf Summit in 1994).
Participants were later asked to prioritize the overall list by selecting the 10 ideas they believe would not only have the most significant positive impact on the game, but are actions they would also support. It was from the analysis of this voting that the outline of 20 top action recommendations was distilled. The analysis was conducted by the National Golf Foundation.
Industry’s Original Strategic Plan Rekindled
A good number of the 20 recommended actions focused on player development matters. Among them: Transforming more of today’s public golf facilities into “Welcome Centers’’ for beginning golfers ... an industrywide promotional campaign to bring more players into the game ... a concerted effort to learn more about why people leave the game.
In the area of facility development, the ideas ranged from finding new ways to attract more private funding of public golf facilities ... to the establishment of an environmental clearinghouse and a major promotional campaign aimed in part at motivating golfers to become spokespersons for golf’s contributions to the environment.
The analysis of the leading action recommendations revealed six basic strategic themes. They were:
1. Encourage more people to try the game.
2. Improve our ability to ease the beginning golfer’s entry into the game.
3. Make golf more enjoyable for all.
4. Continue developing the next generation of golfers.
5. Respond to issues that threaten the growth and vitality of the game.
6. Develop a greater sense of unity and community among golf associations.
Here is a outlined summary of the leading action recommendations that received the greatest support at the ‘92 Summit:
1. Encourage more people to try the game.
A. Develop an industry media/marketing campaign promoting golf participation. Emphasize fun, fitness and family, and that golf is a game for all.
This effort has failed dismally, based on statistics. Golf is far too expensive for the entire family to play often. And giving people free 10-minute lessons is not the answer to encouraging more new people to play the game; some theorize that a 10-minute lesson actually will do more harm than good. One reason golf professionals should participate in the free lesson initiative, according to the PGA of America in a missive to its members, is because a decent percentage of attendees return to book paid lessons. Whatever, the number of core golfers (those who play more than seven rounds per year) has dropped from 14.1 million in 2000 to 12.5 million in 2005. Yet the PGA claims its “Play Golf America” initiative is driving a 79 percent retention rate for one year for new golfers. That is opposite what the NGF’s figures are showing.
2. Improve our ability to ease the beginning golfer’s entry into the game.
A. Do a better job of retaining beginners and developing them into avid golfers. 1. The game: Create education/development programs that are geared to beginners, i.e., that are fun and designed to minimize embarrassment and intimidation. 2. The swing: Encourage instructional methods and programs more in line with the needs and desires of beginning golfers. Consider the development of a model program for entry-level skills development.
B. Develop more facilities appropriate for the beginning golfer ... and link with player development programs. 1. Alternatives to regulation facilities: Promote the development of non-traditional golf facilities, particularly in urban areas where land is at a premium ... linking these facilities to existing player development programs wherever and whenever possible. Facilitate this development by creating and disseminating related (e.i., case studies) information. 2. Multiuse facilities: Develop more multi-use golf/recreation complexes that serve as entry level facilities for beginners and appeal to families as well as individuals. Incorporate miniature golf, the learning center concept, practice holes, etc. 3. Golf welcome centers: Encourage formation of a national network of golf “Welcome Centers’’ consisting of both traditional and nontraditional facilities that commit to placing special emphasis on catering to beginning golfers.
Not enough has been done to ease beginners into the game. The industry, however, is more than happy to sell them expensive green fees and equipment. Only a very few beginner programs are being offered today by golf courses; it seems most courses are waiting for others to create new players for them. The number of junior, female and minority players hasn’t changed in six years. And not enough beginner-friendly courses have opened; in the Chicago area, the number is less than five of the 135 new courses opened in the market since 1990. While it sounds noble to give lessons to inner-city youth, most of them do not have access to a golf course or the finances to play – which in the past came via now-dwindling caddie programs.
3. Make golf more enjoyable for all
A. Promote wider acceptance and use of the forward and multiple tee concepts: Encourage (a) the development of multiple teeing areas at new and existing golf courses and (b) the use of the forward tee areas by higher handicap players.
B. Make customer service job one: Provide more and better customer service training for all golf facility personnel, with special emphasis on instilling an increased awareness of and sensitivity to golfers’ needs.
C. Effectively deal with slow play: 1. Professional golf: Improve pace of play in professional events to set a positive example for amateurs to follow. 2. Rating system: Create a pace of play rating system, rate all golf courses... and encourage wider use of eight-minute tee time intervals. 3. Promote pace of play programs: Develop, disseminate and promote pace of play programs and ideas to all golf facilities. Promote pace of play programs and ideas to all golf facilities. Promote the use of faster competitive and recreational formats for play.
I doubt that any reader needs someone to assess the current state of “slow play” for them. The part I think is really sad – and funny – is that the Summit urged the PGA Tour – a participant in the seminars – to be a model, setting an example teaching the rest of us how to play more quickly. The Tour has a long way to go when threesomes in the recent Masters were taking 5:25 to play 18 holes.
4. Continue developing the next generation of golfers
A. Make better use of schools and other existing youth-oriented organizations and programs: Take advantage of the opportunities that school physical education programs, church groups and other existing organizations offer for increasing exposure of children to the game... with special emphasis on developing better linkage between them and local golf facilities.
B. Do a better job of coordinating our efforts: Establish a junior golf task force or coalition and convene a national meeting to communicate and share ideas.
This one deserves a solid C+, but only because its implementation required zero effort by the golf industry. Rather, it shifted the responsibility of developing the next generation of golfers to unorganized outsiders who have absolutely no stake in the success or failure of the golf industry. But I do like the sound of the phrase “establish a junior golf task force”... sounds really official...
5. Respond to issues that threaten the growth and vitality of the game
A. Environment 1. Promotion: Develop an industry-supported promotional campaign to more effectively communicate to both golfers and non-golfers the positive contributions that golf makes to the environment... with an eye toward turning more existing golfers into local advocates. 2. Clearinghouse: Establish a centralized environmental clearinghouse/resource center; publicize its availability, and develop whatever additional educational materials may be needed but do not currently exist.
B. Player attrition/retention: Focus on improving golfer retention by conducting surveys and developing the additional research that will be needed to increase the success of future player development programs.
C. Golf course financing: Improve golf’s business image. Launch a concerted effort to educate lenders and investors on the viability of golf course/facilities as businesses... with emphasis on drawing the distinction between golf and real estate.
D. Accessibility: Change the attitudes of those who view golf as a basically elitist and unfairly exclusive activity by working to demonstrate that golf is a game that is accessible to all who may wish to participate.
E. Cost of golf: Make sure the cost of playing the game does not get out of hand and becomes a deterrent to participation. Do so by working to contain facility fees, as well as facility development costs and operational expenses.
Give your local golf course superintendent and his organization, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, a solid B+ for promoting and implementing golf’s contribution to the environment. But we’re back to the corporate BS again, conducting more surveys on player attrition/retention. Problem is, how do you interview the 3 million people a year that quit playing the game?
The ease of finding investment capital in the late 1990s is the main reason for today’s problem of overbuilding – we built too many expensive courses while the number of people playing the game was static and then dropping. And building too many penal, high-maintenance courses has directly impacted the cost of golf.
6. Develop a greater sense of unity and community among golf associations
A. Establish a strong, active council of golf associations and develop a coordinated plan for dealing with golf’s challenges and opportunities.
This one is purely someone’s pipedream, kind of a “kumbaya” finish to the 1992 summit. Each locale in the U.S. has several overlapping golf associations, each bent on marking its territory and protecting its own little fifedom and revenue streams. Here in Chicago, we have several local chapters of national organizations performing functions of varying import; each of these organizations would like to think it alone is in charge of the game of golf.
The national picture is no different. For instance, there is no love lost between the LPGA and PGA Tours; while they seem to coexist peacefully, each is in a desperate, cutthroat battle to grab as many sponsor dollars as possible. And recently, the once-pure United States Golf Association has for the first time jumped in bed with corporate sponsors: Lexus and American Express. Not Chevy and Visa, but sponsors that seek the old-money, bluenose market. The USGA has lost me as a member; I’ll donate my money where it is really needed.
And how about the American Junior Golf Association? Its main sponsor has been – no, not Timex – Rolex, a watch every junior golfer aspires to own someday. What a crock.
Point is, the golf industry can hold Summits every six months to make proposals to solve the game’s ills. But so far, this has done nothing more than create the impression that there is industry awareness and action will be taken.
The sad fact is, it hasn’t. Any signs the industry is making progress toward goals set 15 years ago is faint, at best. All I know is, golf courses are still struggling to survive.
It was 15 years ago I wrote that “Golf is booming from top to bottom. Now is the time to address its problems, not when things are going downhill.”
On the other hand, maybe things cannot be changed. Perhaps this is as good as it will get...
Phil Kosin has been the editor and publisher of Chicagoland Golf since 1989. He has covered golf in Chicago since 1975.