Q&A With George Kirsch

George Kirsch is the author of an important new book: Golf In America. A literate and entertaining read, Kirsch's meticulously researched study of the American game offers a timely perspective. Obviously, anyone with an interest in seeing how golf reinvents itself during these lean times will value the information gleaned from Golf In America.

A history professor at Manhattan College, Mr. Kirsch answered a few questions via email.

GS: What motivated you to undertake such a daunting topic?

GK: After writing two books about early baseball and editing several volumes of sports documents and one ethnic sports encyclopedia, I was looking for a new subject. I have played golf since I was fourteen, so golf history was a natural topic for me. Also, when I began my research I was surprised to discover that no one had written a social history of golf that covered social class, gender, racial and ethnic aspects of the sport.

GS: In looking at the history of golf in America, you reveal in many ways that its place in American life goes beyond the country club world. Yet the sport is facing a backlash these days because it is viewed as a game for the corporate elite. Can we get past this perception?

GK: In American culture it is very hard to change the public’s perception of any topic which has been reinforced by the media for a long time. This is true even when the facts clearly refute the prevailing myths. After all, many people still believe that Abner Doubleday invented baseball at Cooperstown, New York. Golf commentators on television and golf writers focus on tournaments held at private clubs, and showcase country club life and the best players. One of my main goals in writing Golf in America was to prove that the democratization of golf in the United States began as early as the 1890s with the first municipal courses in New York City, Boston, Chicago, and other cities. Sportscasters and newspaper and magazine writers need to remind the public that there are millions of working class and middle class golfers of both sexes and all races and ethnic groups who play the game on municipal and semiprivate daily fee courses.

GS: You explain how golf was viewed as important back then because it was a vital recreational sport and now we hear less about its benefits to health and fitness. Would you blame this on the emergence of the cart?

GK: I agree that although the advent of the motorized cart in the 1950s enabled many elderly and infirm men and women to enjoy playing golf for many more years, it also drastically reduced the health and exercise benefits for many people who were perfectly capable of walking for eighteen holes. In the early 1900s proponents of golf recommended it as an ideal sport for men past the age of thirty who could no longer play active team sports such as football, basketball, or even baseball. Today jogging and fitness training have become more popular than golf and even tennis for physical fitness. But it is still true that one of the major attractions of golf as a recreational pastime is that it provides people with the opportunity to spend four or five hours in a beautiful country setting, which is a welcome relief for city dwellers and even suburbanites and good for their mental health.

GS: You feature an excellent chapter on golf during the Great Depression. Do you see parallels to today's economic crisis and ways that golf will survive as it did during the Depression?

GK: Yes, there are many parallels. Many country clubs including several very upscale associations have already responded to declining membership by waiving pricey admission fees for new members. Other clubs have offered trial one-year memberships or delayed or extended payment of dues. If the hard times continue, many country clubs will have to resort to other remedies applied during the 1930s, including admitting classes of people who would have been denied entrance during more flush times and creating less expensive “house” or “associate” categories of membership. Officers will also be hard pressed to maintain balanced budgets. During the Depression golfers who could no longer afford club dues patronized semiprivate and public facilities, which were generally in a sorry state of neglect. Under the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration between 1935 and 1937 the Works Progress Administration spent more than ten million dollars on 368 public courses nationwide, including sixty-two new facilities. Today’s municipal courses are in better shape, but some no doubt could benefit from improvements. But the recent federal stimulus legislation does not seem to include funds for renovation of municipal links. Another difference today is that now many real estate developments that feature golf courses are in financial trouble, and their management cannot maintain them in good condition. That was not a major problem in the 1930s.

GS: In the book you look at the role Presidents have played both in things like the WPA, and also just by their very participation in the game, or in John Kennedy's case, closeted participation. How do you see Barack Obama's affinity for the sport comparing to past Presidents and perhaps influencing golf's image?

GK: Barack Obama’s combination of basketball and golf as favorite pastimes is unusual for Presidents. I don’t think he will have as much impact on golf as did William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson, who really played a critical role in the democratization of the game early in the twentieth century, or especially Dwight Eisenhower, whose influence was so important during the 1950s. If he plays a few rounds with Tiger Woods that might further enhance golf’s growing popularity among middle class and affluent African Americans. If he counts every stroke it would be an improvement over Bill Clinton.

GS: In light of your research and perspective, how do you see the next few years playing out?

GK: History suggests that golf in the United States has weathered previous hard times of depression and war quite well. The game still seems to remain popular among tens of millions of participants. The key for the near future is the cost of playing on municipal and semiprivate courses. Many of the daily fee facilities are now charging high green fees, so I expect that the cheaper public links will be even more crowded in the largest cities. It remains to be seen whether further rounds of suburbanization will also result in more golf courses. The various minority and youth programs sponsored by the PGA, USGA, and Tiger Woods should help. Changing family trends will make it more difficult for fathers to spend four or five hours away from their families on weekends. Women will gain more equal treatment at country clubs.