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...

Mrs. Forman's Update: Images, History, Where To Write

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The shock of potentially losing the historic Mrs. Forman's has taken a few days to wear off, but the forces are aligning to preserve golf's most historic social gathering spot as a structure. But why stop there? Conversion to a residence when it hasn't been one for nearly 200 years seems shortsighted.

After the last fight over Musselburgh Links, I've given up trying to understand the inability to grasp the lack of appreciation for Edinburgh historical sites like Musselburgh and Mrs. Forman's. Perhaps it's a matter of branding and marketing, or maybe this traces to the longtime rivalry between St. Andrews and Edinburgh. At this point, nothing should matter but protecting the game's most vital sites of importance.

Enough people know how vital this area was to the shaping of the sport as we know it today. Therefore, preserving golf's first mid-round snack bar and a historic post-round "19th hole" should supersede any rivalries.

For a nice, succinct bit of background on how the demolition plans were discovered, check out Ru Macdonald's discussion with Neil Laird on the Scottish Golf Travel podcast. Laird's excellent Scottish Golf History website is worth a look for background on this saga and for future trip planning.

Our discussion today from Morning Drive:

My photos from inside the now-shuttered eatery, including the view from Mrs. Forman's window, which she opened to serve golfers during their rounds.

Here is the history of the place and more on Mrs. Forman:


And finally, courtesy of building architect Mungo Park, relative of Musselburgh's legendary Park clan, here is where you can write to influence the future of "The Cradle of Golf."

His comments are on a fantastic GolfClubAtlas.com thread about the closing.

Anyone that wants to do the same, or your own version, should do so by e-mail before the 17th February.

You can e-mail direct to,
environment@eastlothian.gov.uk 
but you must quote the Application number 15/01035/P, 2 Ravensheugh Road, Musselburgh and state whether you are supporting or opposing or just commenting.

You can also write to,
 
Planning Department, John Muir House
 Brewery Park
 Haddington
 East Lothian
 EH41 3HA.

Again quote reference number '15/01035/P - 2 Ravensheugh Road, Musselburgh'.

You can also comment on line, but will need to register on the web-site before doing so - not onerous but a bit tedious.

I think it is worth putting a marker down at this stage, so that East Lothian at least knows that Mrs Forman's has a significance to the history of golf, and that people care about it. There is a good level of concern nationally and internationally, and the more comments they receive the more  notice will be taken now and in the future. I shall keep an eye out for future applications.

The Zika Virus And Olympic Golf...

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While most of the various grave threats posed by Rio's Olympic golf course have passed or been overblown, the Zika virus would seem the most problematic since it is transmitted through mosquito bites.

On the news that PGA Tour LatinoAmerica is briefly postponing two events to let the mosquitoes pass (per Golf.com's report by Marika Washchyshyn), UPI's Tom LaMarre says all inquiries are being made.

"We're having discussions about the precautionary steps we feel need to be taken in and around the golf competition, and making plans to implement them to the maximum degree," said Ty Votaw, vice president of the International Golf Federation.

Votaw said special mosquito repellant might be distributed to fans, and officials plan to create movement in the ponds to eliminate standing water.

The Donald: Tour Won’t Pull Doral Event From My Course

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On the eve of his expected triumph in the New Hampshire Republican Presidential primary--there's something I didn't expect to type--Donald Trump suggested to Golf.com's Peter Bukowski that he's fine with the PGA Tour leaving Trump Doral. Why? Because he'll make more money without the annual stop.

But he doesn't see them ending the longest continuously running tour site.

"They do not want to do that,” Trump said. “There’s no site like Doral in Florida. I have the greatest site in all of Florida."

A higher power may take the decision out of the PGA Tour's hands: the lack of sponsorship going forward that would result from Cadillac not renewing, which appears to be the case.

Golf Really Bothers People Files: Rio Golf Course Vol. 39,301

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I get that there is a lot to dislike about golf in the Olympics, or the Rio Games or rich people building a public course to make money from condo sales.

Yet to show just how angry golf makes some people, check out the Financial Times' Jules Boycoff citing the building of the Olympic course as a brazen act of transferring public wealth into private hands. Meanwhile, poor people are being evicted, the waters are so polluted that athletes may get sick, and yet the golf course is example A of all things wrong with these games?

Golf makes people do strange things!

From Boycoff's piece:

Nowhere has the transfer of public wealth into private hands been more brazen than in the construction of the Rio 2016 golf course. The Rio Olympics mark the return of golf to the Games after a 112-year hiatus. As was touted in Rio’s original Olympic bid, the metropolis already has two elite golf courses that have staged major tournaments. One of these could have been renovated to meet Olympic standards.

The ball would need to be going thirty yards shorter and the crowds limited, not to mention mountain climbers in one case, if this were true. Anyway, go on...

But in an audacious maneuver Mayor Paes decided to locate the golf closer to the Olympic complex in Barra da Tijuca, a wealthy western suburb, even if that meant plunking the course inside the Marapendi Nature Reserve, home to numerous threatened species.

In doing so, Paes teed up a staggering deal for billionaire developer Pasquale Mauro. As long as Mauro paid the bill for the golf course — between $20 and $30 million — he’d also win a contract to build 140 luxury apartments around it.

While the mayor’s office has pointed out the benefits of no public money being used in the construction of the site, these units start at $2 million, with penthouse condominiums pushing upwards of $6 million. It doesn’t take a math whiz to calculate the value of this multi-million dollar sweetheart deal, gift-wrapped by City Hall.

While the Mayor and Mr. Mauro will not be winning any Nobel Peace prizes anytime soon, to suggest that the course was built at public expense seems a huge stretch. However, the anger the sport evokes will be part of the (neverending?) battle for golf to overcome this August.

Wasted: Big Four Coronation Still On Hold

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With a two-stroke lead and two to go, social mediasphere was celebrating the Big Four's official arrival.

One hole at a time, millennials. It's an old saying.

Rickie Fowler's adrenaline-fueled power added to the legend when he hit a perfect cut right through the par-4 17th green and into the hazard. For a change, Rickie's ability to drive 360 yards under pressure proved less-than-handy, and the Waste Management Open title was up for grabs. The huge crowds got the drama they craved, just not the dream winner, as John Strege notes.

Slow poke Hideki Matsuyama eventually won a three-hole playoff, but it'll be the Big Four deprivation and 17th hole that are this week's big takeaways.

First, the shocking tee shot (shocking in club selection and power):

Fowler was shocked by the distance of the shot, not but the club selection. From Brian Wacker's game story:

“Usually don't expect it to hit on the downslope and then go 360,” he said. “So that was a bit unfortunate. I hit it right on line, hit it exactly where I was looking. That's kind of the unfortunate part, to hit the shots that I did and to pull them off, and then it kind of backfired there.”

Rickie got emotional about losing the lead:

The official highlights:

Putting Looks As Hard As Ever, As Pros Proved This Week

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Today's players are fitter, faster, smarter, prettier, sexier, leaner, etc., etc. But as with their predecessors, they still can look human on the greens.

To review...

Lexi Thompson is putting with her eyes closed.

Ernie Els struggled but was less yippy in Dubai, though he admitted the yips he's been dealing with the last few months amounted to "end of career" issues on the greens.

Bernhard Langer is carrying two putters in the bag according to Golf Channel's announce team. And he was seen warming up before his opening Allianz round trying two styles of putting.

Ian Poulter, one of the world's best putters over the last decade, started putting with one hand in Phoenix.

Easy game!

Any others I missed?

Poll: Where Are You With Bubba Watson?

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We've gone through the traditional Bubba Watson controversy (again) this week. As with past brouhahas, they play out with amazing consistentcy:

--He speaks honestly in shocking, out-of-the-blue fashion

--He gets ripped by the (social and mainstream) media he hates, but never reads yet knows will only take the negative angle

--He spent a day or two with the much-wiser and grounded wife bending his ear, gets booed at the 16th hole.

--He apologizes just as he has done before (video version), appreciating the accountability of it all

We will go through this many more times with him and unless he starts picking on innocent kids or other less fortunately souls, I really don't see the big deal. He's different, odd, knows he has ADD issues at the very least and maybe is a little bit of a mad genius. We don't want him to be like everyone else, do we?

I'm also sympathetic because when he's on, he's such a joy to watch play golf. The TPC Scottsdale should be a showcase for his talent, but I sense much of his meltdown this week was prompted by disdain for the place, only heightened by Tom Weiskopf's anti-long driving changes to the course. Several players last week were dreading the event for the first time because of the course, not the noise or the party scene or whatever else might be a deterrent. And you can read between the lines of player comments, like Mickelson's remarks, including that TPC Scottsdale shifted from an offensive to a defensive course. Bubba just happened to be more blunt in sharing his views.

I could go on about the aesthetic nightmare it has become, with more overseeded rye grass and blinding bunkers viewable from outer space, but it won't do any good. The old lunar landscape is gone.

But back to Bubba...where does his latest controversy leave you with one of golf's most fascinating stars?

Where do you stand with Bubba?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Video: 7 Y.O. Godiva Kim's Golf Swing

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I don't want to make you feel bad about the progress you've made with your swing, but I kind of do in posting this latest compilation spotted on her Instagram account.

It's Godiva Kim, now a year older than when Terry Wilcox profiled the next great Aussie-born golfer. But her swing remains pretty much perfect.

Storms on the way..#juniorgolf #girlsgolf #lpga #ladiesgolf #골스타글램 #주니어골프

A video posted by godiva golf (@godi_kim) on