USGA's O'Toole: "The health of the game is in trouble."
Dan O'Neill looks at the state of the game and uses his hometown of St. Louis as a guide. First there were these surprisingly strong comments from the USGA's Tom O'Toole, who certainly can't be accused of having his head in the sand when it comes to the health of golf:
"It's a tough time all the way around," said Tom O'Toole, USGA executive committee member and executive of the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association. "The health of the game is in trouble."
The 2013 Senior PGA Championship will be conducted at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, followed in 2018 by the PGA Championship. Otherwise, there is nothing pending, certainly not the succession of USGA championships the city enjoyed over a period of time.
"It's a very interesting discussion with the health of golf," O'Toole added. "The plethora of championships and interest from clubs in hosting those events, that we had in the past, simply isn't there because of the economy. There's really nothing on the horizon."
And there was this uplifting thought...
For all the technological advancements and agronomic improvements, golf remains quite costly, difficult and time-consuming. Davenport attended a "State of the Industry" seminar recently, and Stuart Lindsay of Edgehill Golf Advisors caught his attention with a statement.
"It was kind of shocking," he recalled. "He said, 'Do you realize that kayaking is now more popular than golf?' And I'm not sure of the context, if there was some fine aspect of it that he was referring to. But I mentioned it to another PGA pro and he said, 'You know, now that you say that, my neighbor down the street has a kayak on his car.'"
Davenport laughed, but added, "For those of us who have been in the industry for a long time, that's hard to take."
Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 09:15 PM
Reader Comments (32)
Truthful but painful article
Length also equals time. To many a 5 hour round of golf is too much time away from family or business.
Quieter golf courses are good for amateurs. In the pro game, even if there is less prize money, the players are still the best in the world. I don't think the prize money is going to drop so much that pros are going to leave the game to get regular jobs.
The main issue is around the jobs that the golf industry creates (including journalists, manufacturers and other opinion formers). And these jobs may just get transferred to the kayaking industry (or whatever is now more popular).
I’m kind of playing Devil’s advocate here, but I don’t think this is really the disaster it’s made out to be for most people who enjoy the game.
Cheap golf is epitomised by Tapora Golf Club New Zealand (annual subscription USD120 unlimited play, visitor green fee USD7)- a sheep farm with very small greens with electric fences round them. The farmer mows the greens on Fridays and moves the sheep to other fields. Placing on fairways of course but it's real golf. Probably not unlike 19th century golf in Scotland. In dry cimates courses are built on sand with oiled greens and almost zero cost and maintenance.
I'll admit I'm fortunate to live in an area where 18 holes is 35 bucks and a choice of about 5 "decent" courses. Year long memberships are $1,200 to $1,500. No pools, tennis courts, or even restaurants. The country club doesn't exist here. A 6 month season is another negative. I know I'm sounding parochial, but I'm not interested in 12 hole rounds or executive layouts. Rounds are about 4 hours almost always.
You see I'm a golfer, period. I like the challenge of the game and company of my pals. It's a niche. Golf will survive in some form. It's just adjusting to the ebb and flow of the economy on a regional basis. It will never be mainstream regardless of the wishes and plans of those "in charge".
Or I can try to talk these same friends into playing golf (who have played once in a while but don't do it regularly) into a random game of golf. Yeah, pretty obvious why more people kayak then golf.
And while in the shot term it might be better for some on this board if the riff-raff don't infiltrate their sacred golf courses, if new kids don't come into the game, it won't be self-sustaining at many places, because not to put to fine a point on it, but old people grow sick and die.
We all play golf too.
The area in which I live has a few golf courses stalled in the planning process which will I am sure will get moving again on the next upswing of the economy and all of them will be aimed at the high end of the industry, one of which Geoff has some knowledge of (Union Bay). Not one of these courses will be priced to be very inclusive and all make the assumption that golfers will pay lots for beautiful views and big name architects. This growth helps me how?
That those in the business of golf refer to themselves as an industry also makes me laugh. Industry/!?! really!?! I guess it is honest. Keep churning out product and hope the suckers don't realize it is the same crap with a shiny new ribbon.
http://www.morgancountycitizen.com/?q=node/18040
This is a very good Mike Young design. It was reasonably priced in a decent location. How many times has this been repeated across the country in the last few years? How many more times will it happen? Right now I am somewhat fortunate, but have been and will be again in the situation in which frwys-n-grns finds him(?)self. That is the norm in this economy. Please explain again, how is the game just fine?
c&c: Thanks for the reminder. I'll lash a rake to the deck. LOL. Having said that, I once paddled over a gator the size of my canoe near Ft. Myers, Florida. I remained calm, sort of, but was calculating the unlikelihood of springing off the thwart and into the overhanging tree while he slipped a bit deeper as I passed over him. Kept my eyes open on the return trip...
the game itself is fine...but the people running the show?...not so much.
If too many facility's are built some will go under, if they are not run correctly, they will go under.........
An architect who can't design a short but challenging course, even with today's gear, isn't worth a thimble of pus. At 310 yards, the 10th at Rivera is theoretically drivable, but it has an over-par scoring average. The twelfth at Augusta plays to 155-165 yards and is among the most difficult par-3s in the world. There are courses on tour that are around 7,700 yards. A challenging 6,000-yard layout could make for just as much drama while saving a MILE of turf to maintain. If you could knock down a course's length by 25%, you'd save just as much in maintenance. Why isn't there more of a push to do this?