"It's unfortunate that golf is somehow made to be the whipping boy for this economic malaise."

Peter Kostis raises a point I've been wondering about: why does golf have to be so ashamed of itself in this down time while other athletic pursuits seemingly go on with their usual antics and inflated budgets.

It's unfortunate that golf is somehow made to be the whipping boy for this economic malaise. Why not all the excessive, guaranteed contracts in baseball and basketball?

Unfortunately, the darkness has settled over fans and regular golfers too. I can't help but feel that we're in a time when people are almost afraid to be seen having fun. That somehow, with so much bad news on TV and negative sentiment out there, laughing and enjoying yourself has become almost politically incorrect.

Is there any way golf corrects this, besides hoping for a healthy Tiger to return and continue his historic run?

Comments

[Papa Bing]

Peter - Stick to something you know about....
like the konica/minolta/biz hub slo-mo camera.

[jeff]

I don't think golf per se is the problem. I think it's the stereotype of golfers as rich country-club types, or people with too much disposable income, that is the problem. At the end of the day, golf is a game where people hit a ball with a stick along the ground until it falls in a little hole. People will be playing golf, and having fun, until the end of time. It may not always have the cache it's had in the recent past, and it may not be played on the most manicured courses, but maybe that's not such a bad thing.

[Jordan]

Since when was playing most public courses fun? That's the problem actually: most public courses aren't fun. If public courses were fun, then maybe golf wouldn't get a bad rap. And Jeff's comments wouldn't ring true.

[The Big K]

I think jeff has come pretty close to the nub of the problem. Plus, how many baseball and basketball players have their own Gulfstream jet? Add to that the whinings of golfers like Kenny Perry...

[James H.]

Most public courses aren't fun? Kenny Perry isn't the only one whining. Think the Scots feel that way?
Golf sure doesn't get a bad rap for lacking "fun". Golf gets a bad rap precisely because it is viewed as an elitist game. And to a lesser extent, a bastion of racism.

It is ironic that the trappings, if you will, of corporate CEO's often run parralel with those of the professional golfer.


How many baseball and basketball players need/want a private jet to travel to their games? None

How about the millions in the hole for the Ohio State football program?

The hierarchy of sport in America has a tremendous amount of excess at the upper levels, well before it reaches golf.

Give me the meritocracy of pro golf over other sports every single time. Miss the cut, you don't get paid.
A-Rod and T.O. would not be happy with that line of work.

[Jordan]

James H,

Unfortunately I don't live in Scotland; I live in America. Have you played a public course in America recently? Slow play has made playing golf here almost unbearable. A six-hour round on the weekend fun? A four-hour round on the weekday fun? I don't think so. Who has the time? When I play now, I play nine holes at the crack of dawn; and I try to be the first person out on the course. Thus, I give golf a bad rap for not being fun. And I know many others that have the same opinion.

I agree that golf gets a bad rap as being a bastion of elitists and racists. But maybe if playing public golf had some attraction for people, then opinions would change.

[Steven T.]

I challenge the Blue Jackets of the USGA to play a muni on a holiday weekend.

I did almost 20 years ago and it took 3:15 to play the front nine. I walked off the course,got out the checkbook and joined a new private club that was looking for members. The culture of public golf in this country has been allowed to slide in the name of packing them in with 7 or 8 minute tee times.

[Tim]

Jordan, your comment about public courses reminds me of the Yogi Berra comment: "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

[Jordan]

Steven T,

It's gotten worse since you last played a muni. Last June, I walked off after playing seven holes at a muni (Evergreen Hills in Southfield, MI). I was 3.5 hours into the round, I was close to the parking lot, and I'd had enough. It was on a Tuesday, and I'd teed off at about 1:30 p.m. I took time off work thinking that a Tuesday afternoon would be a good time to play. Boy was I wrong.

[Steven T.]

The best time to play a muni Philly is on a Sunday afternoon in September and October when the Eagles are on TV at 1pm. Those 4pm or night starting times ruin it for us golfers.

[Jordan]

Tim,

Fair enough. But as I also said, I try to go before dawn when only the nuts like me play golf. It makes for sleep deprivation and it makes it hard to find playing partners. But it does cut down on slow play.

[Mac Divot]

Slow play, an old Texas muny pro told me once, boils down to one thing, attitude. Therein lies the problem. But wouldn't you enjoy seeing golfers first have to pass an etiquette test, or what would the world be like if the world's best players set a better example.

On a completely unrelated topic, did anyone else notice that the Charlie Axel Woods notice nowhere included mention of birth weight or size? Wasn't this always a given in birth announcements? Not that I'm in anyway suggesting anything or that it caught my attention.

[James H.]

Jordan
I play public golf every weekend and most times, enjoy it a great deal. I've been a club member at a CC that was closed and sold, because the membership declined. I really don't miss it and the reduction in cost is an added benefit.
Pace of play is an issue that frustrates all of us but the muny that I play here in Little Rock is easily played in 3 to 3 !/2 hours.

Patience is a virtue.

[Rob Turner]

It is an age old problem isn’t it. People have allowed an elitist image of the game to fester and now in difficult times it is coming back to bite those involved with the game. There is no other way to explain this. Sponsors often in their speeches and hand out go to great lengths to explain how golf is a niche sport and how their product is also for this ‘niche’ segment of society so that they can differentiate themselves from ordinary brands. Just yesterday I was at a tournament where the chief marketing officer of the product that was the title sponsor went ahead and said “Golf is a sophisticated sport just like our brand which caters to the special people in society.” If you bother to read between the lines you will understand what I am trying to say.

So quite obviously golf will be taken to the stand because it has successfully built an elitist image and in tough economic times who else do you blame for the problems? I am not saying that I agree with the acusations leveled at the game but quite frankly the marketing brains behind the game need to take a different line if they want to help golf be seen in positive light.

[Jordan]

James H,

Maybe I should move to Little Rock. Bur barring that, if I could find a muni that only took 3 to 3.5 hours to play, in the Detroit-area (where I live), then I'd play there all the time (when it wasn't covered in snow of course).