Is Golf Indeed Dying?

[JSPayne]

I don't think golf is dying.

What may be dying is everything which came to define golf for too many non-golfers.

Growing up,golf was a sport you played when you weren't playing baseball,tennis,basketball,and/or everything else.It was something you tried to get good at.But,even when you sucked,it was fun.You were with friends "competing" at something else.You never worried about how good or bad the golf course was-just as you never worried if the baseball diamond has rocks on the infield.Maybe it was blissful ignorance,but all that really mattered was the PLAYING.

Now,it seems like everything else is more important than just playing.Is my course ranked in the top 100,is there a weed in my fairway,are my club's towels scented,etc.

Somehow,the game of golf got hijacked by people who don't understand what's really important.Maybe this economic situation will weed out the poseurs and leave the game for those who have a passion for playing it.

I love this response. It literally tapped into the heart and soul of what I love about playing golf.

My brother and I recently went and played a round at a course we used to play as kids, which we remembered as a lot of fun, a bit quirky design, nostalgic. It's in a pretty isolated location in CA and I also wanted to see how it was doing.

The conditioning was unacceptable. TONS of weeds, patches of hard pan in the roughs, fairways and even GREENS. The first half dozen flags were at a lilt, one was not even in the cup. There was no beverage cart.....heck, there was ONE car in the parking lot when we showed up at 8:00am on a Saturday, and that was the club pro/manager.

But you know what? We had a great time. I don't get to play with my brother much, and to be out there, just the two of us, on a nice day with no cares, not even when we had to putt through a pot hole in the green (actually, that might have made the round even more entertaining and memorable!) was something we both really enjoyed. I probably won't go back to that course again for a while.....but then again, the price was unbeatable for this area and we didn't see a soul on the course for the first 6 holes. Occasionally, I'll even take on horrible conditions if the price is right and I can move around the course quickly and unfettered.

So maybe these courses will suffer, falling into a neverending downward spiral until they just can't sustain themselves anymore and have to shut down. But that round, along with several others I've had this year (one at the most WELL manicured course I've ever played on, also at an amazing price point), only makes me want to get out there more, and share more time and memories with my family and friends on the course, especially when it's not busy, the round is quick and effortless, and I feel the prices fall in line with what I get.

Golf won't die. Just like all the other companies in this recession, it will be survival of the fittest. And with personal budgets on the decline as well, I would think it will be only the fittest, addicted, dedicated golfers that will continue to make golf a priority and where they spend their money will dictate the future of course successes.

[Phil McDade]

Okay we have a few Drama Queens here at GCA.com but here is some perspective:

“The economy will likely drop the number of golf rounds over all in 2009 by 3 to 5 percent,” Beditz, of the golf foundation, said. “Still, golf, which is a $400 billion industry, is doing pretty well. Detroit wishes car sales were only off 3 to 5 percent.”



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/sports/golf/18golf.html?pagewanted=1&ref=sports

Mike and Co.:

I think (if I can read his mind) what Shivas may be getting at is this from Cary:

"Not dying, but shrinking as its customer base ages."

I wonder if the golf industry is like the newspaper industry (or the car industry, for that matter) -- a hugely cyclical industry that kept its head in the sand about major changes in the economy, and its customers, and then reached a tipping point where it's undergoing (or about to) a severe retrenchment.

Any successful industry has to, as Cary hints at, replace its customer base with younger folks willing to view the thing being sold as a necessity, or at least something they'd miss if they didn't have it. The newspaper industry assumed generation after generation would value the thing -- a home-delivered or street-bought newspaper -- when in fact an entire generation of people (anyone under the age of 30 these days) has found they can get by without a newspaper. Rather, they can get information in fresher, more convenient ways.

Golf strikes me as facing a somewhat similar challenge. The game does take too long; in many of the most populous places in the country (major metro areas) it's expensive (relative to other recreational pursuits); it can be a really frustrating game if not played consistently (unlike, say, riding a bike).

I don't think the game will die, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it drop in significant numbers and undergo a major retrenchment. Already here in southern Wisconsin, we've seen two low-to-mid-level courses (the kind of places played by regulars in the nearby communities) close, and I think more are coming.

[Lou_Duran]

Right on Phil McDade, Cary L, and Mike Cirba (on demographics, not the "stuff" about poetry and good taste).  The "we're killing the earth by our existence" types and their authoritarian big government cohorts are winning.  People who can afford to bring up their kids responsibly are not having enough kids to replace themselves.  These are the same folks who populate the "core golfer" category (eight or more rounds per year) disproportionately.  And if you think it is bad here, the birth statistics of Europe are even worse.

Without a doubt, golf will survive.  Lynn Shackelford once opined that the reduced number of players in the U.S. may not be a bad thing, and I have come around to thinking that he might be right (though it may be painful for some earning a living in the industry).  If golf is to grow, it will likely be as a result of the emerging economies of Asia.  Golf is a great international game anyways.         

[Anthony Gray]

  Are the numbers down in the UK?

  Anthony

[Tom Huckaby]

Excellent stuff, gentlemen.

I feel confident today that while golf may not be the thriving thing it may have been during a boom time, "dying" is not the right word to use to describe its future.

And that makes me smile.

It's still worrisome that a guy like shivas says what he says these days, however (and I take him at face value and assume he is sincere - this time).   But I'm going to chalk that up as being more about him right now than about the sport.

TH

[Mike Sweeney]

I think (if I can read his mind) what Shivas may be getting at is this from Cary:

"Not dying, but shrinking as its customer base ages."

I wonder if the golf industry is like the newspaper industry (or the car industry, for that matter) -- a hugely cyclical industry that kept its head in the sand about major changes in the economy, and its customers, and then reached a tipping point where it's undergoing (or about to) a severe retrenchment.

Any successful industry has to, as Cary hints at, replace its customer base with younger folks willing to view the thing being sold as a necessity, or at least something they'd miss if they didn't have it. The newspaper industry assumed generation after generation would value the thing -- a home-delivered or street-bought newspaper -- when in fact an entire generation of people (anyone under the age of 30 these days) has found they can get by without a newspaper. Rather, they can get information in fresher, more convenient ways.

Golf strikes me as facing a somewhat similar challenge. The game does take too long; in many of the most populous places in the country (major metro areas) it's expensive (relative to other recreational pursuits); it can be a really frustrating game if not played consistently (unlike, say, riding a bike).

I don't think the game will die, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it drop in significant numbers and undergo a major retrenchment. Already here in southern Wisconsin, we've seen two low-to-mid-level courses (the kind of places played by regulars in the nearby communities) close, and I think more are coming.

Phil,

I understand. I am not sure if you are in the business or not, but I borrow a line from Golf Impresario Tom Huckaby - "As a consumer of golf, why is this (golf getting smaller) a bad thing?" Pebble is cheaper, Sea Island is cheaper. Private clubs have more diverse memberships.

As a consumer, I want an industry like the car industry to grow. Right now the path to growth may be green for the car industry. Growth of the car industry also has national security issues too. Just  can't see where growth of golf is that important for me as an fairly heavy consumer of golf.

[Tom Huckaby]

Maybe the answer to my question of why golf is shrinking or dying is that Tom Huckaby is cited as a golf impressario. 

 

But I get all of this.. and appreciate the the explanations in terms that Tom Huckaby, Caveman Golfer, can understand.

I am rather with Mike on this.  But Phil's words helped a lot too.

TH

[Andrew Mitchell]

  Are the numbers down in the UK?

  Anthony

Numbers are indeed down in the UK.  Two recent stories:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/golf/article5586765.ece

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article5864067.ece