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Great article, truly believe in Ron's 4-F's..Thanks for sharing.

wow that was a great artical thanks for sharing

the only thing i don't agree on is the dress code.  i don't mind a slightly relaxed dress code, but that is a slippery slope.

That's a great read. If all veterans of the game, any adults playing since they were young, made an effort to introduce the game to the next generation, it would do so much. If not your own kids, then maybe the kid next door. As the PGA has "free lesson month" in the month of May (or at least they have in the past), maybe there could be a "grow the game" month that the golf club owners could support, where new golfers could be introduced to the game - make it reasonable for a newbie to come out, borrow a few clubs and hit a bucket of balls.

Interesting points… I agree that 5 hour rounds can go away and I could walk more for the exercise but, even with a cart I’m getting some physical activity. I also agree that growth potential for women is huge and the childcare idea is very interesting, most gyms have it so why not. My wife and I would play together more often if childcare was provided. I do have a few disagreements though…he complained of the expense and yet he favored starting caddy programs over carts, I’m not sure when he last paid for a caddy and a tip but, he’s probably not played Pinehurst #2 lately (OUCH!). I get that carrying your own bag and a muni with caddies would be far different than Pinehurst but, I don’t think that’s the problem. While starting a caddy program wouldn’t be a bad idea I think the First Tee does a far better job of growing the game for people who wouldn’t normally be introduced to golf by actually playing rather than hoofing a 50lb bag around. My major disagreement with the author is the dress code, why should we change the dress code? Is a pair of decent shorts and a polo that bad?

shawks11

Interesting points… I agree that 5 hour rounds can go away and I could walk more for the exercise but, even with a cart I’m getting some physical activity. I also agree that growth potential for women is huge and the childcare idea is very interesting, most gyms have it so why not. My wife and I would play together more often if childcare was provided. I do have a few disagreements though…he complained of the expense and yet he favored starting caddy programs over carts, I’m not sure when he last paid for a caddy and a tip but, he’s probably not played Pinehurst #2 lately (OUCH!). I get that carrying your own bag and a muni with caddies would be far different than Pinehurst but, I don’t think that’s the problem. While starting a caddy program wouldn’t be a bad idea I think the First Tee does a far better job of growing the game for people who wouldn’t normally be introduced to golf by actually playing rather than hoofing a 50lb bag around. My major disagreement with the author is the dress code, why should we change the dress code? Is a pair of decent shorts and a polo that bad?

I think a muni or country club could have a caddy program and if done right, be less expensive than a cart. But they wouldn't make as much money. 

I think the dress code is more of a problem at places where decent shorts and a polo aren't enough. Some places don't allow shorts and some don't allow cargo shorts. Now some of those courses are exclusive enough to do that. But, at least after the economy the last few years, some courses need to realize they aren't as nice as they think. 

I think Sirak makes some very powerful points - However, trying to understand the plateauing of the number of people playing the game is likely more complicated than it may initially seem. The golf industry and business has some embedded challenges to their business model likely not easily overcome. To begin, tp play the game, you heed a course - To build a course you need land and a lot of it. It isn't cheap to build a course and it takes a fair amount of capital of maintain a course. These start up expenses ans ongoing maintenance expenses necessitate a level of required revenues to simply break even that likely are quite high. Giving up cart revenues isn't an easy task when you've got debt to service.

Contrast the golf experience to baseball - It takes a lot less space and no particular high level maintenance to keep up the local diamond. And contrast baseball's cost of a ball, bat, glove, and uniform to balls, clubs, and uniforms for golf. Typically, it is a lot easier  for mom or dad to go outside and toss a baseball with his kids than to pop out to the golf course for a quick game.

While there are challenges to embedding golf into  a larger group, I look at the experience of youth soccer in the US  and wonder why all of the zillions of kids playing soccer haven't translated into more of a professional game and enthusiasm in the US.   Does youth golf face similar dynamics? What is lost in the transition from  youth soccer to more of a following of that game in later years?

Not sure what the answers are, but offering up free golf for youngsters accompanied by adults or perhaps free if kids register with the course they play  and agree to rules of decorum like those taught within First Tee programs might help build momentum. And Mr.Sirak's idea of smaller, faster rounds is attractive...But the game has certain limitations based on the economics of profitably operating a golf facility. It is not the cheapest game to participate in, but it sure is fun!