Good (But Depressing) Read: The Economist On State Of Golf

2014 was the year editors across the country commissioned with alarming and now annoying regularity, a "what's wrong with golf" feature that covers consistent ground: the economy, takes too long, course closures, millennials, etc...

This December, 2014 story by The Economist does not actually cover much new ground but is the most artfully crafted and intelligent recounting of all the issues and potential bright spots. I'd like to mention the author's name, but the publication inexplicably leaves it off this website version. (If a print subscriber can pass along the name, it'd be greatly appreciated.) **Alexandra Suich is the author, thanks reader anonymous.

A sampling...

Society today is not as friendly to golf as it once was. Men who disappear on Saturdays and palm off child-rearing to their wives have more to worry about than a high handicap. Some clever golf gluttons have tried to interest their kids in golf, in order to justify a weekend round while still getting parental points, but fathers these days are more likely to be taking their children to various sporting activities than taking part in their own. Mr Owens at the Trenton Street Golf Course thinks that the high rate of divorce across America also keeps men from golf, because weekends are when they get to see the children.

Bringing in and retaining players below the age of 45 is more difficult than at any time in living memory. Millennials in America expect, if not instant gratification, at least near-term rewards. Golf’s pay-offs can feel elusive. Dan Wald of the Boston Consulting Group, who advises sports businesses, says that golf video games actually decrease the chance of getting a young person to play golf, because hitting a ball smoothly down a real fairway is so much harder than on a virtual one. Golf has more competition for people’s leisure time than ever before.