Golfsmith is out of business. Bulle Rock is up for sale (if you buy it, please reduce the green’s fee and I’ll gladly play it more often). These are merely a few more signs in a number of distressing things I keep running into regarding the state of golf.
A friend of a friend decided to give up his job as a club professional at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla. When he left he was making a salary of $30,000. I was talking to the owner of The Wetlands a few months ago. We were talking about marking golf course boundaries, hazard boundaries and the like and he said something interesting. He said (and I’m paraphrasing here) he’d rather spend his time, money and energy on the condition of his course to attract a dwindling number of players to his course, and the hell with marking hazards.
The former BeechTree Golf Course is now almost completely covered with single family homes, townhomes or condos. I played a round of golf at Honey Run Golf Club this winter (with cart) for $14 on GolfNow.com.
Golf is hemorrhaging. There are a ton of reasons, and the game probably had a revival in the 1990’s due to an increase in disposable income and the emergence of one Eldrick T. Woods on the professional circuit. But the Tiger bubble has now gone flat. In that same conversation with the Wetlands owner, he decried the fact that “people just don’t play as much golf as they used to.” I played a round of golf last week with a guy who sells a chemical needed for the manufacture of golf balls. He told me a few interesting statistics, but one that stuck in my mind was that from the mid ‘90s to now, manufacturing has dropped by HALF.
There’s a total rewrite of the rule book going on. The reason? Golf rules are hard to understand and remember. New players apparently throw up their hands and never come back to play - it's easier on the game console.
Country Clubs could always depend on frustrated tycoons wanted to get away from the office, the wives, the girlfriends and the kids for a few hours every weekend. We now have cell phones – there is no place we can escape life unless (gasp!) we turn them off. Public golf courses could always depend on a healthy group of retirees to fill up their morning tee sheets during the weekdays (yes, they also wanted a reprieve from the wives). Retirement, pension plans, and affordable health care are becoming rare birds. We’re reaching the end of the Baby Boom retirees, who expected to retire at around age 55 and have 30 years to do things like play golf and take trips around the country. A more realistic retirement age is 65 if people can retire at all.
When I came to Harford County at the ripe old age of 23, the choices for public golf were pretty limited. I was a government employee, so I was always able to play at Ruggles, Plumb Point and Exton here on the proving ground. The only public golf course was the relatively new Geneva Farm, and I would live to see The Wetlands, Mountain Branch, Bulle Rock, BeechTree, and new courses in neighboring counties (Greystone, Pilgrim’s Oak, Wyncote, Furnace Bay, Patriot’s Glen) spring up from farm pastures. I think we’re approaching a time when many more golf courses will be plowed under – and that will be a real shame. Some of the best courses in our area are no longer the bright and shiny stars they once were. I think about the state of Patriot’s Glen – there was a time a couple of years ago that the course was virtually abandoned as the owners went through bankruptcy. Or Geneva Farms – for a time in the 90’s, the greens on that course were fast, challenging, and pretty well maintained. Have you played those greens in the last couple of years? They’re slow, you’ll find dead patches in virtually every green, and they get very little water.
Will golf die? That’s a good question to ask, but I think the answer’s a pretty solid “No”. There are still too many people that enjoy playing the game, there’s a somewhat healthy group of equipment manufacturers out there, and there will always be a core group of professionals to play the game. Even though golf won’t die, I think I see a potential collapse of the amount of choices available to us. I think it’s inevitable to see at least 10 percent of the courses in our country turned into something else. The number of golf equipment companies will probably shrink by maybe double that 10% number. Fewer choices mean less competition and higher prices. Fewer people playing golf means a smaller pool of dollars for course improvements and maintenance. You’ll be playing on fairways and greens that won’t be watered, aerated, or mown as often as they used to be.
I hate to bring up problems without some sort of solution. I still think it’s inevitable that golf will shrink, but it doesn’t have to shrink as fast if we just GET OUT AND PLAY. If you’re in a pinch for money to play, here are a few tips: 1) Ditch the cart. Cart fees are typically on the order of 10 to 20 dollars per 18-hole round. It doesn’t take too long to make that add up to another green fee if you hoof it. Walking a course is good for you. During the colder months it’s keep your core body temp up and you can actually feel quite comfortable down to about 40 degrees with only a couple of layers of clothing. You may feel that you’ll slow down play if you walk, but I’ve found that if I maintain a brisk walk, I can keep up with most golf carts. They may beat me to the next tee box, but by the time they’ve gotten out of the cart and selected they’re clubs, tee and ball, I’m right on the box with them on most holes. 2) Consider playing during non-peak hours. I like to take off during the week if I can get away from work and pick a tee time just before or after lunch. On most courses you’ll get a reduction from the early tee-time rate, and you’ll certainly not be paying weekend rates. Play during twilight. If you like to play on weekends, consider a late tee time. It’s amazing how many holes you can get in just before dark. 3) Rather than buying new equipment, you might want to take half of that money and pay for some professional instruction. You’ll enjoy the game more and want to play more often if there are more birdie and par scores on your card. 4) Take advantage of services like GolfNow. They’re out there, you might as well use them. I have found that occasionally the price you pay on some of those sites is actually higher than the posted rate at the course, so tread wisely.
If finding time is the issue due to other responsibilities, I’d double back to playing during the week when the family unit is at work or at school. Consider playing during a light rain or a windy day. Consider playing in the winter. Fewer golfers out there mean that you’ll be able to play faster.
Aside from getting out and playing, I think it’s good to promote the game to new players – both young and old. I think more people would play if they just had someone to spend the time to get hooked. Lend them an extra set of your clubs (if you’re like me, you have at least one backup set), and take a new player out and maybe alter the rules for a while for the new player in order to get used to the ideas of golf. For instance, you might have your new player play his first shot from the middle of the fairway on long holes. Maybe they only putt and chip for their round, or you play a two-man scramble when he can see what you’re doing and try to replicate it. Once a new player feels the attraction of the game, he’ll probably want to play more often.
If courses aren’t going to be maintained as well, I think it’s time you change your expectations. Golfing the links-land of Scotland means that you don’t always get a perfect lie, you may have to hit out of the sand in the middle of the fairway, and that bunker may not be raked. Golf should be a natural game. Like life, it won’t always be perfect. Take that bad lie in the fairway as a test of your ability to make the best out of the situation. Think about some of the best swings of your life, and I bet there’s something challenging about each one of those that forced you to play something out of the ordinary and you pulled it off. Don’t let the condition of a course ruin your round. So, get out there and keep our courses in business! The future of golf is in your hands.