Golf's Climb Out

[Adam Clayman]

After being mostly dead, the golf market appears to be climbing back from recent setbacks.

http://www.usga.org/news/2007/june/2007_50.html

i.e. Yesterday at Junior golf, I brought a bunch of old clubs to give away to some of the kids that only have even older ones. Much to my surprised, there wasn't a pre-1980's club in the lot and many of the kids had brand new juinor sets.

Are you seeing growth in your neck of the woods?

[Jim Franklin]

I know my 5 and 7 year old daughters enjoy hitting balls on the range with dear old dad. My 5 year old wants a new set of clubs.

I see the junior clinics at our club are always over booked. It is a great site to see all of them practicing and learning to play this great game.

I don't know if that will translate to more profits for golf companies since I think Wall Street has hurt that more than anything else. Every company has to come out with cutting edge technology every year or their stock takes a hit. I kinda wish these companies stayed private.

[Bob Jenkins]

Adam,

I have sons ages 15 and 13 and cannot get them into it. I have not gone out of my way to push them at all, as I know if you push kids they may turn the other way. Good kids but into music and other things. They think it is cool the old man likes golf but they cannot get excited. Exposed them to it earlier but they are not keen. They have that "swing" that a kid gets when he picks up a club at an early age, but no desire to go on with it.

From what I hear from friends, that is typical. Maybe, however, we just do not have the influence we should have.

Regards,

Bob Jenkins

[Peter Pallotta]

Bob Jenkins
It's just a guess, but for what it's worth I have a feeling that, in about 10 years or so, both your sons will be playing a lot more golf, and will be well-served by the "swings" you helped them developed; and that in 20 years they'll be thanking you for introducing them to a game they've grown to love, and a little mad at themselves for not having made more of the opportunity early on.

Peter  

[John Kavanaugh]

My son just turned 12 and told me that he wants to become a good golfer.  What should I do?  My daughter became a better tennis player than I was ever a golfer by getting private lessons every week.  I told my son that if he would like I would get him a one hour private lesson every week as long as he is interested.  I like the idea but something doesn't sound right.  This weekend I am going to try to train my non-golfing wife how to follow him around the course and keep both him and her out of the way of other members.  I would guess that after one year of training in fundamentals of swing and etiquette he should be capable of being dropped off at the club alone for the all day jaunts that I grew up with...with hope that the drug using 16 year old clowns do not get ahold of him.  note:  This will not curtail my current games or cultural endeavors.

[Adam Clayman]

Perhaps it's a Nebraska thing but Bayside, the D&D layout at Lake Mac, is already up to the total number of rounds they did last year. Play the West participation is up 70% there.



 

[Steve Lang]

 

Note1.. while growing up in nw ohio, we played seasonal sports and especially those during playoffs and championships.. how cool was World Series of Golf?

Note2.. went to every Tigers/Lions and Indians/Browns games we could get folks to take us to through highschool.. pro sports were cool.. Blades hockey, GlobeTrotters & big time wrestling at Toledo Sports Arena, 1970 World Cup Finals with Italy vs Brazil on ccTV big screen at Fox Theater in Detroit, later on own.. 1979 Open at Inverness really cool.. for me.. and Memorial in Dublin in 80's on business passes..

Note3.. Some are certainly wired for it, some are not.. my older brother and i both played baseball & tennis in the summer with our separate friends, but he didn't go for golf or swimming

Note4.. kid athletics so competitive now, that they have to largely choose one sport and focus if they want to make limited school team slots.. fun has to be somewhat gone in that proposition today..

if spirit is there to play/compete, exposure to the pros kinda locks it in.  golf is definitely cool today.. but what about tomorrow?  perhaps if its nice weather, and you can possibly meet some girls..

[Mike Sweeney]

Adam,

I would guess those USGA numbers are directly related to Tiger missing the cut last year at Winged Foot. No Tiger for two days had to be painful.

I played with my son this week one afternoon, and the only kids that we saw on the course were the kids waiting in the caddie shack, but kids are just getting into their summer rhythm. 80% of the golf that I play with him is "vacation golf." It is pretty rare that it fits in his daily routine.

Right now I think it would be hard to find a second tier country club around New York that is not looking for members.

[Bradley Anderson]

Yesterday we had a father play here at Midlane with his two sons, and his own father. That warmed my heart.

Men, you need to get your children and grandchildren out on the golf course with you! How else will the game continue if we are not preparing the next generation? What better time than now to get out with a young person, when rounds are down and the golf courses aren't so crowded.

Playing golf with a young person is just as important as discovering golf history, maybe even more so. In the former you are investing in the future of golf, in the latter you are recovering the past. However, it will matter little what is recovered if there is no one to pass it on to.

In the old days I think that golf was being discovered by the boys who grew up in the neighborhood of golf clubs, but the golf cart eliminated all of those summer job opportunities that exposed so many boys to the game. And today, soccer and baseball are doing a hugely better job of marketing themselves to young people than golf does. Half of the families in America are split up from divorce, and when dad has the kids for the weekend, the time is too short for what golf requires. All said, I am concerned about the future of golf, because I see so little being done to prepare the next generation. I work on a golf course every day and yesterday was the first father son golf round that I have seen in 10 years.

[John Kavanaugh]

How rampant is cheating and drug use in the AJGA?  I think the cheaters were the biggest hurdle to my oldest son enjoying tournament golf.  I think the drug users were my biggest hurdle to doing well in tournament golf...

[Chris Cupit]

I do think it's getting better.  Rounds are up in my area (southeast) although that is due to weather (drought) more than anything.  But, membership levels in the GSGA (state golf assoc) have been increasing and might surpass 2001 levels despite few if any (net) new courses.

I am seeing enough junior interest that we began this program at my club a couple of months ago.  On our closed day (Tuesday) beginning at 3:30 after the maintnenance crew is done for the day we have a junior only time.

the young beginners stay on the range and hit balls under the supervision of myself or the golf pros.  Those old enough will go walk and play.  Parents may play but they must walk and play with their child (NO CARTS for anyone on these days).  

Juniors can bring any guests they want (up to age 18) and there is no charge for anyone for anything.

We've got about 20-25 kids showing up and while many parents drop the kids off and come back later, about 4-5 parents/grandparents go and walk/play with the kids.  Some parents just walk along and watch.  On our back side a three hole loop returns to the range so some kids play 3 holes, some 9, some till dark and the ones that stay on the range usually "poop out" after an hour.

I take it as a good sign