I have a lot of random thoughts on this:
* I never realized ultimate frisbee was the Millenial's sport of choice. 2 weeks after I turned 30, it appears I may suddenly be out of touch. I always thought it was a game for nerdy white guys in Madison, WI who aren't athletic enough to compete in rec-league basketball or football.
* I play golf with a lot of people. I've never met anyone who has played the game for fewer than 5 years who plays by the rules, and only about 3% of people who have played for longer than that follow them. I don't believe that the complexities of the rulebook are chasing away recreational players.
* I'm never quite sure how people my age will react to finding out that I'm an avid golfer. There is a small but vocal group of people from my generation who put it in the same class that I put ultimate frisbee (white and nerdy), and another group that immediately assumes you're a snobby, elitist jackass when they hear "golfer." Of course, I'm all of those things. But I'm also a blue-collar southern kid raised by a single mother and married to a black woman, and the "golfer" stigma doesn't always jibe neatly with the rest of my life.
* I was introduced to the game on pasture courses. I was given four clubs and a ball and I whacked it around as long as I didn't come close to hitting anyone and as long as I kept pace. I didn't learn much about mechanics or etiquette in those early years, but I had fun. When I watch the 3-6 year old kids who get dragged to the driving range at my club today by their parents or grandparents, and listen to their chaperone try to give them instructions in a continuous run-on sentence running through their entire range session like "Buddy, be smooth, don't chop, keep your swing on plane, you got a little vertical on that one and then your hips didn't clear and so you didn't hit it good, buddy you gotta make sure you pivot your spine around its own axis, think of your hips being in a barrel buddy...", I can understand why I don't see many kids on the range between the ages of 7 and 15. They get turned off to the game early by adults who want to do their best Earl Woods impression and live vicariously through the kids.
* Mark may be right about people around my age and younger having fewer legitimate things occupying our time. But the guys who can afford to play golf tend to be pretty upwardly mobile and have busy careers, and we also have more things competing for our attention and more recreational outlets than any generation before. We have no shortage of activities on which to spend our disposable income: Tough Mudders; Color Runs; an endless array of 5ks, 10ks, 15ks, and marathons; regular yoga and hot yoga; countless rec-leagues for sand volleyball, indoor soccer, basketball, football, baseball, and probably even ultimate frisbee; a culture that makes it easier than ever to hop on a road bike and ride... the list goes on almost endlessly. All of those activities are cheaper, faster, and a better workout than golf. They're also activities with a community based on the acceptance of people of all skill levels and backgrounds, as opposed to golf with its perceived culture of exclusion.
George is right. The author of this article is a dope. But the few facts he presents, if true, are still scary, and our game does have a lot of barriers keeping it from appealing to the priorities and culture of a younger generation. Still, I'm optimistic for golf's future simply because I still think there is nothing more fun than smashing a ball with a stick.