World Golf Foundation CEO: Millennials Will Be The "Core"

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In today's what golf will do to be loved by the 18-to-34 year olds, World Golf Foundation CEO Steve Mona says they're coming and the game should adjust to their every need.

Tod Leonard reports for the San Diego Union Tribune on the bullish tone Mona has for the state of the game.

They key segments to all of golf are youth and the millennials, which the NGF deems as those between 18 and 34 years old. The NGF did a comprehensive study of millennials and found that six million are currently playing and contributing about $5 billion annually to the golf industry. Another 12 million millennials expressed interest in taking up the game at some point.

"This kind of sky-is-falling talk that millennials aren’t playing the game, the facts belie that," Mona said. "It would be disingenuous of me to say, though, that there aren’t issues to address."

The NGF study reported that millennials value the tenets of the game as much as their older peers, but are turned off by perceptions of stodginess or lack of acceptance. Among the areas that need to be addressed, Mona said, are dress codes, use of technology on the course and even the use of music while playing.

"There are courses that already are reshaping their whole experience to be extremely millennial-friendly," Mona said. "There are others who haven’t so much. But if you talk to any operator who is paying attention to the business, most of them will tell you they are making adjustments to appeal to the millennial audience.

"They’re the next group coming along, and they’re going to be the core."

Yes, in about 20 years! In the mean time...

Clippings: 2016 PGA Show This And That

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Forward Press: LPGA Kick-Off, PGA Show Coverage

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In this week's edition I speak to LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan about the refreshingly status quo state of the LPGA Tour after years of new events, new lineups and too much sponsor turnover.

Things are so improved for the tour that its number one star is not playing the opener and no one seems to mind because Whan has arranged plenty of playing opportunities.

Also covered: the PGA Show, Farmers Insurance Open and the mysterious Singapore Open where Jordan Spieth is turning up to cash a big check and build on the fatigue that threatens to mess up his year if he isn't careful (we discussed this surprising and not-surprising revelation on Morning Drive).

I'll be curious where PGA Show coverage goes this year after years of secrecy before finally joining the modern world the last few years. In 2015, Callaway was very active online and will be again. Sirius radio will have Matt Adams on hand (with Hank Haney also doing his show from the Show floor). What remains to be seen: how much show coverage is provided by Titleist, Taylor Made and PING. I'll add links if they appear.

The full column here.

Golfweek On The Growth Of Third Party Tee Time Providers

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As the PGA Show gets ready to convene in Orlando and visitors intially regale themselves in discussing when they arrived and where they’re staying, the follow up chit-chat may end up discussing the growing prominence of third party tee time retailers. If they're lucky.

Adam Schupak of Golfweek looks at Golf Now, the Golf Channel-owned enterprise leading a segment of the industry with huge room for growth. The PGA Tour has joined the business and as with most things technological, golf’s consumer base is behind the rest of society. But the catching up is happening.

This was interesting:

Multiple industry observers with knowledge of Golf Channel operations say GolfNow has become the network’s profit center.

No one disputes that third party tee-time providers have created valuable tools, but the trend has become one of the most polarizing subjects in golf, a disruptive force blamed for negatively impacting the value proposition of a round of golf.

Forward Press: PGA West Stadium And Johnny's Return

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In this week's Forward Press, I naturally touch upon the much anticipated European Tour stop in Abu Dhabi featuring Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. But there are a number of interesting elements to the Bob Hope Classic's latest reboot into the CareerBuilder Challenge, starting with the return of PGA West Stadium after its not-so-triumphant one-year stint 29 years ago.

As the column notes, this is an opportunity to see just how much the game has changed. While there won't be ShotLink comparisons to make, those of us old enough to remember how difficult the Stadium once was will get to see today's players light the place up.

Mentioned in the column also is the 2016 debut of Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller and producer Tommy Roy. Since filing the column I was reminded that this is where Johnny made his debut as an analyst in 1990 where he wheeled out his first of many “choke” references when talking about the possibility of Hope Classic contender Peter Jacobsen blowing a 72nd hole shot. Jacobsen pulled off the shot and won, but I'm sure we'll relive that and Lee Trevino's Skins Game ace.

Happy reading!

Grand Slam: Jordan 100-1, Rory 150-1!?

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As America virtually shuts down on Sundays because the NFL is betting friendly (and even exciting sometimes), golf remains a tough sell to those who like to wager, or, at the least, enjoy discussion of futures odds.

Consider this Martin Inglis story at Bunkered on prices for the 2016 majors.

As for achieving the grand slam, William Hill believe Spieth is more likely to do so than four-time major winner McIlroy, who failed to add to his total during a 2015 which was disrupted by an ankle ligament injury.

Spieth is 10/11 to be majorless, 6/4 to win one, 6/1 to replicate his sensational 2015 by winning two, 14/1 to win three and 100/1 to become the first player to win all four in a calendar year.

As for McIlroy, the odds are slightly longer. The Northern Irishman is 5/6 to win zero, 11/8 to win one, 13/2 to win two, 20/1 to win three and 150/1 to scoop all four.

How so very...not tantalizing. Spieth just finished one of the five best years in major championship history...HISTORY...winning two majors while finishing T4 and second. Repeating that is only a 6-1...opportunity?

Neither are any of these prices even remotely tempting...

And here are the odds for some selected others to win ONE major in 2016:

• Jason Day – 2/1 
• Rickie Fowler – 9/2 
• Bubba Watson – 6/1 
• Dustin Johnson – 6/1 
• Justin Rose – 6/1
 • Adam Scott – 8/1
 • Henrik Stenson – 8/1
 • Hideki Matsuyama – 12/1 
• Patrick Reed – 12/1
 • Brooks Koepka – 14/1 
• Phil Mickelson – 14/1 
• Matt Kuchar – 14/1 
• Louis Oosthuizen – 14/1 
• Martin Kaymer – 14/1 
• Sergio Garcia – 14/1

And…
• Tiger Woods – 14/1

Right now, we should get 14/1 if Tiger will even PLAY in a major.

What I can't gauge from these numbers is if it speaks to the bettors not understanding just how hard it is to win a major in golf, or the bookmakers just instilling this obliviousness in their customers. Either way, the numbers above are only good for discussing how silly they look on paper. Give me a $20,000 Maiden Claimer any day over this!

Meanwhile punters, Rory is looking ready to go as his 2016 is about to kick off in Abu Dhabi, getting dialed in on his new Trackman.

Is the just a little taller, the swing a little tighter/shorter, and the body even more fit?

Slow motion:

A video posted by Rory McIlroy (@rorymcilroy) on Jan 17, 2016 at 6:31am PST


And full speed. Pretty tight.

Full speed

A video posted by Rory McIlroy (@rorymcilroy) on Jan 17, 2016 at 8:50am PST

Langley Gets $3 Million To Be Golf's First "Athlete Trading Stock"

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Here I thought the sign of Wall Street geekdom having too much time and money peaked when they discovered high-frequency trading. Or ruining my favorite baseball team.

But reading from Yahoo's Daniel Roberts about Fantex's athlete trading stocks suggests that there is a stranger and even deeper misunderstanding of sports than I first feared.

PGA Tour player Scott Langley is Fantex's first pro golfer, inked for an upfront fee of $3.06 million, payable if they sell shares in Langley, in exchange for the privilege of 15% of his earnings. Here's how it works, according to Roberts:

The company pays every athlete it signs a one-time, upfront lump sum in return for a percentage of the athlete's future brand income—all future income tied to the athlete's brand, whether it's from the sport or from business outside of it. (That includes, for example, money from endorsement deals, fast-food franchising, speaking engagements, TV appearances and more.) In Langley's case, Fantex is paying Langley $3.06 million in return for 15% of his future brand income. Fantex raises that fee from the IPO process; if it fails to sell enough shares of the athlete in the offering, it can't pay him. It has successly brought all six of its attempted offerings public, but it had to cancel the offering of Arian Foster, who was planned to be its first stock. Foster is a bigger star than any of the athletes Fantex has brought public, but he was sidelined by a back injury shortly after Fantex announced the deal.

Yale! Under Armour Moves Into "Aspirational Positioning"

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Eben Novy-Williams' Bloomberg story on Under Armour paying Yale $16.5 million annually over 10 years to form a partnership suggests they are not letting up in any way, with the suggestion that golf continues to be a big part of their thinking.

From the story:

So what’s in it for Under Armour? The Yale brand, said Under Armour Vice President of Sports Marketing Ryan Kuehl, who cited the powerful alumni network, its global footprint and its elite student body.

"The number of young people around the world who aspire to attend Yale University is mind-boggling. That aspirational positioning made the deal worth it," Kuehl said.

Add that gem to the jargon HOF! Oh, the golf component:

Under Armour may be particularly interested in Yale’s golfers, who are likely to keep playing long after they graduate. Yale’s golf course was recently rated the best university course in the country by GolfWeek magazine; Under Armour sponsors Masters champion Jordan Spieth and is building its golf business.

Parsons To Writer: "Brother, you need to get out more."

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Reading golf.com these days requires a motion sickness pill, what with the auto-play videos and other assorted pop-ups that have the text shifting everytime you try to scroll.

That said, the Josh Sens Q&A with Bob Parsons about his splashy new equipment company is most fun, in a combative, eccentric billionaire sits down with freelance journalist kind of way.


GOLF.com: Great feel. Great look. Longer shots. Isn’t that what every club manufacturer tells us? What's so different about that?

Parsons: What’s different is that our clubs actually do what we say they do. Have you talked to anyone who has hit them?

GOLF.com: Not yet.

Parsons: You haven't? How is that possible? Brother, you need to get out more.

GOLF.com: Well, you've hit them. What are they like?

Parsons: They do everything I just said.

GOLF.com: Give me an example. What sort of shots can you can hit now that you couldn’t hit before?

Parsons: One of the differences with me compared to many guys who have much lower indexes (Parsons plays off a 10) is that they will practice in order to hit a particular shot. I go out to see how a club feels. And the feel of these clubs is unbelievable. But you don’t have to believe me. You could talk to Ryan Moore. We shipped him a set with no expectations. We knew at the time they were pretty good. He called us two days later and he said, 'I just put them in my bag, and they’re not coming out.'


Helps he didn't have to pay retail for them!

Dreadful: Cobbs Creek Clubhouse Destroyed By Fire

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A terrible loss on many fronts, as the delightful clubhouse building at Cobbs Creek was destroyed in an overnight fire. (Thanks to readers Matt and Len for sending in links.)

The colonial clubhouse has stood for nearly a hundred years, sporting a classic Colonial style and set the perfect tone for the course, which has the potential to be one of the world's premier municipal courses (with a little dusting off.)

Here is a short Philly.com staff report with a surreal image of ice retaking the building after the fire.

NBC Philadelphia's report:


Footage of the fire:

Some of my photos from two years ago, in happier times...



Peter Kostis' Next Post-Round Interviews With Zach Johnson And Billy Horschel Should Be Pleasurably Awkward

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Peter Kostis, CBS on-course reporter, sometimes acknowledged member of Team Titleist who says the golf ball should not be blamed for distance increases, and Twitter motto-holder "Be positive, be happy," sounds really annoyed by players jumping ship to Parsons Extreme Golf.

He's even conducting a poll to confirm the sheer awfulness of the free-market at work.


The news broke Monday included these press release quotes from Zach Johnson and Billy Horschel: 

“The decision to put PXG clubs in play was not one I took lightly,” said British Open and Masters champion Zach Johnson. “My entire team, from caddie to coach, was part of the discernment process. We all agree that PXG is undeniably the best equipment to help me achieve my goals on the course.”

“Being part of PXG is like being part of a very special movement in golf,” champion golfer Billy Horschel added. “What the company has accomplished in its first generation of equipment is mind-blowing. I’ve been playing some really incredible golf with PXG clubs and I feel very confident that great things are to come.”

Now, he could be also referring to new Nike man Brooks Koepka, but based on his quotes reported by Rex Hoggard or in this Nike roundup from Kyle Porter, it would appear Kostis is especially upset with Johnson and Horschel. Can't wait for those post-round interviews with two players are generally most forthright in their assessments.

Will Parsons Disrupt The Equipment Industry With $700 Drivers?

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Long rumored and now reality, Parsons Extreme Golf (PXG) announced the signings of several players including Open Champion Zach Johnson. Not mention were the lucrative renewals or new players signed by players who might have borrowed Parsons as leverage. (BTW Nike announced the signings of Tony Finau and Brooks Koepka today. Finau moves from Callaway while Koepka is now a former Titleist man.)

Doug Ferguson has many quotes from Jim Parsons, the vision behind the newish high-end maker of clubs, who is also owner of Scottsdale National (and not afraid to write his members letters, as you may recall here and here).

Will Parsons serve as a positive disruptive source?

“Making money is not what I have in mind,” Parsons said. “My goal with this is to build some very incredible clubs without regard to cost, without regard to the process. I’ve been telling people what I’m doing and I’ve heard many times, ‘You’re nuts.’ That’s a very good sign.”

An even better sign for the people he's paying! For a while anyway.

Parsons is tapping the billionaire demographic that is tired of spending $250,000 a year on clubs only to hope they...spent more? Though hopefully there is also a level of craftsmanship to justify the price.

“It got to the point three or four years before I started the PXG venture that I would spend about $250,000 to $300,000 a year on equipment,” he said. “I bought pretty much everything and would hit it. I could tell you which irons, woods and all that … were real and what wasn’t. Most of it is gimmicky. You take any manufacturer and they say, ‘This will give you an extra 10 yards and 15 yards.’ If all that were true, we’d be hitting it a mile-and-a-half.”

GolfDigest.com's Mike Johnson weighs in on the signings of Johnson, Billy Horschel, James Hahn, Chris Kirk, Charles Howell III, Cristie Kerr, Gerina Piller and Alison Lee.

Loving Zach's b-speak jargon already...

The signings, terms of which were not disclosed, brings Parsons’ tour staff to an even dozen players who have combined for 55 tour wins, including three major titles. “The decision to put PXG clubs in play was not one I took lightly,” said Johnson, in a statement released by the company. “My entire team, from caddie to coach, was part of the discernment process. We all agree that PXG is undeniably the best equipment to help me achieve my goals.”

Not having a board or shareholders to report to should free-up Parsons to not oversaturate their audience who are paying a premium price. But $500 for a hybrid not jewel encrusted? (Golf.com has a photo of the hybrid here.)

But will they be able to resist the rapid fire product cyles that are now expected in the clubmaking world?