BOING!: My wake-up call was the lady who said...
Thanks to the many who have been passing my post on to others who want to see golf remain healthy.
With no disrespect of Golf's ‘movers and shakers’ who write about the golf industry, I see very little in their dialogue other than what’s going on inside the moat that keeps non-golfers out.
Then when they do reach out, they don't really reach out.
For instance, if golf promotes itself on the golf channel who are they talking to? I mean they’re advertising to a virtual zero audience. There probably isn't a single non-golfer watching the golf channel. How dumb is that? Meanwhile, according to the latest NGF statistic, 8.8% of all USA people play golf. Therefore, at least 91.2% of people watching a program like Family Guy do not play golf.
Wouldn't it make sense to promote golf where the 91.2% who don’t play golf hang out?
I wrote a while ago, “What the Heck has Weather Got to Do with the State of the Golf Course Industry!”
It was my response to a golf industry writers report on the weather effect on rounds of play for a specific period. It comes from my favorite golf industry watchdog, James Koppenhaver of Pellucid (https://www.pellucidcorp.com/). James is a reliable non-patronizing golf business information provider. However, to me, discussing weather while the ship is sinking is like telling the ship's violin player you're perturbed because he’s out of tune.
I agree that weather had an influence on daily/weekly/annual rounds of play. After over 60-years in golf, I cannot argue that point. But the weather has little influence on how many people are ‘golfers.’
Anyway, the weather is an influence over which we have zero control. For instance, an upper New York golf course I was overseeing had an increase in rounds in 2016, but it was because there was no weather interference for the entire summer. By comparison, go back four years. The spring was so late the golf course didn't get going until June. It was a disaster year.
I do believe, however, that we had fewer golfers in 2016 than we had in 2012 because a few had died (or quit golf). When a golfer dies, we have one golfer less. So, the (current) logic is to ask the remaining still alive to play more often. They're being told to pick up the slack and fill the empty slots on the tee sheet left behind by the dead guys.
Brilliant strategy.
That's essentially one of the pushes discussed (ludicrous, in my view). They're telling golfers they must play more frequently (or else!). In my experience, compelling a (family) person to play more than they currently do just ain't going to happen (it’s like commanding people to buy more new shoes, or the shoe store will fail). Anyone who thinks the solution to saving golf is to increase rounds played by the remaining golfers is dreaming. And even if they do add another two or three plays a year, it’s not going to put much of a dent in golf’s shortfall. Golf needs millions more rounds.
NEW GOLFERS will fill the gap.
BTW: Look at Topgolf – I believe it might be the hottest thing to happen in golf since the end of WWII! Watch this: http://topgolf.com/us/tampa/. If you can get your hands on a copy of the January 2017 edition of Golfweek, page 30 you'll see the impact Topgolf is having. Or try this link (http://www.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=44663&l=1&p=&pn=#{"issue_id":375558,"page":"30"}), you may be looking at golf’s next boom. And they’re not going to tell people how to dress either.
We might run short of golf courses again!
Why do I know? Been there. Done that. Here’s my experience. It is true.
I opened a golf center in Peterborough, Ontario, a city of 54,000 people, in 1963. We thought it would be an instant home run. However, our first year was a disaster because nobody in Peterborough played golf (outside two private clubs). Our golf center was going to die …. Unless …
I decided I would create my own golf customers by teaching people how to play golf. I set up class schedules and ran newspaper ads while snow was on the ground. I supplied everything – clubs, balls, teachers, etc. Classes were not free but I offered a no-hassle money-back satisfaction guarantee. Every class sold out (and sold out every spring for 25-years). BTW: The lessons were not free because participants needed to demonstrate to me that they could afford to play golf.
Golf is not free.
BOING!: My wake-up call was the lady who said, "I have a number one wood, but I don't have a driver!"
What I realized was that many people who have never played golf know absolutely nothing about any part of the game. We, meaning we who have been around golf for years, too easily assume our everyday golf jargon is universally understood. That wake-up is why I changed my approach to teaching new golfers.
I did not start with the traditional grip and stance and swing. Instead, I explained a set of golf clubs. Then I showed them how to play a round in four hours or less. I stuck to the most basic rules. One area I emphasized was safety - like making sure you know where everybody is before you take a swing.
I told them they could start playing golf right away. Come out and buy a green fee, rent a set of clubs, buy some inexpensive used golf balls, and have fun on the golf course. I told them not to worry about how well they played, but to be sure to play safely and without delay. Keep in mind; my motivation was to create golf playing customers now (exactly what golf needs).
Fast-forward a few short years: My empty golf course in 1964 became an absolute nuthouse by 1972. My parking lot was too small. I had hundreds of women, seniors, couples, all hacking around having a great time. Me. I was having fun too because the golf center became a cash box - I mean a money tree!
The lesson here is about how valuable one new golfer is to the industry.
In 1975 I tracked new golfers by estimating their golf-related spending over five years. I estimated they contributed over $5 thousand bucks into the golf industry – equipment, accessories, clothing, green fees, memberships, golf lessons, golf holidays, etc. Fast-forward to 2017 make that $10 to $15K - maybe $20K.
Here’s the question.
Which is more beneficial to the golf course industry; An already-golfer playing three or four additional rounds a year, or a new golfer who will play more than ten rounds a year and needs everything - clubs, accessories, clothes, lessons, beer, etc.? It should not even be a debate?
BTW: Take a look at Village Links of Glen Ellyn (http://villagelinksgolf.com/) a municipally owned golf course just outside Chicago. It's the best operated public golf course in the country. It has never asked for a dime from taxpayers. Village Links contributes to its golf course neighborhood by continually growing the game.They invite and teach hundreds of brand new golfers each year with their ‘stable’ of PGA golf teachers teaching groups of men and women. Their children's program is fantastic.
If golf can gain new traction the right way, I believe we can stop hundreds of golf courses from failing. We gotta get the industry running like any business trying to grow. It requires a major shift in the way it's currently being done.
Unfortunately, the industry's influencers are golfers. That's a problem the game needs to overcome.
Mike