Right about at this time of year, with the U.S. Open starting in a few days, the golf world is bracing for its annual bitch-fest, the carping and complaining from the pros about how difficult the course is, how poorly it’s set up, and how the brutal conditions will show them at their worst. Yet for all the pissing and moaning, the word I’m hearing most often when I talk to “real people”—others in the golf business as well as friends and fellow golfers—is “fun.”
That’s right. Fun. Much to my surprise, everyone has suddenly realized that we need to put fun back in the game if we want it to be viable and sustainable.
It’s about time!
For the majority of people who play the game, it’s supposed to be fun. It’s also supposed to be faster and less taken with itself. So what happened?
Blame everything on the 90s, from big hair to the dot-com implosion, but mostly blame it on the explosion of new golf courses springing up everywhere. Rather than satisfying a real need, most of these courses were built primarily to sell real estate and the designers directed to make them bigger, longer, and harder than the one before. Which left us with courses unpleasant to play, costly to maintain, and even more expensive to renovate.
As a result, the last two decades of contraction and confusion have knocked us all for a loop. Clubs and courses are closing, the number of players is shrinking, and the prospects for the future seem pretty cloudy.
But golfers are seriously talking about having fun. Maybe because courses aren’t crowded, or perhaps because golf equipment—while not selling the way it once did—truly is more technologically innovative than ever before. And, of course, green fees have been slashed around the country. I realize all those are really negatives, but they could be just the start we need to see the game grow while remaining fun.
To make sure “fun” stays the name of this game, I offer a few suggestions.
First, if someone does want to build a course today, here’s how to do it: Have as few trees as possible, limit the number of bunkers, don’t grade the land with slopes greater than four to one, and most important, lay out the course so within the 18 holes are loops of 6, 9, and 12 holes—with lots of tees—so anyone can play as much, or as little, as they like.
Second, we must stop comparing ourselves to the pros we see on TV. That’s true on many levels, none more than how slowly they play. We definitely should not be copying their pace of play. In facts, any amateur who takes more than about 20 seconds to hit a shot or 10 seconds to hit a putt should be thrown off the course!
Third, the objective should be to get people on and off as quickly as possible, with all levels of golfers able to make pars and have fun. Let’s offer people the feeling of accomplishment in a game that is not easy.
Finally, everyone who works in or plays golf should look into the alternative ideas being offered—by some very bright and influential people—to approach, learn, and play the game. They’re not perfect, but they all point in the right direction.
So check out the following. They just might prove to be…fun.
Barney Adams (http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/2011-05/golf-barney-adams-forward-tees)
Flogton (www.flogton.com)
Tee It Forward, an initiative of the USGA and PGA (http://www.pga.com/pga-america/pga-feature/pga-and-usga-step-new-sets-tees-in-nationwide-tee-it-forward-initiative)
PowerPlay Golf (www.powerplay-golf.com)
More Appropriate Tee Positions for Women (www.Golfwithwomen.com)
Jack Nicklaus and 12 hole golf courses (http://progolftalk.nbcsports.com/2011/05/18/nicklaus-endorses-12-hole-rounds-of-golf)
And if you know of any other ideas to help grow the game while keeping it fun, please send them along to me. I’ll keep promoting them in future posts. Thanks.
