Why isn't golf attracting more new players?

[dave67az]

I didn't like any of the answers you provided, but a few of them were close.  I think there's a LOT to the issue.  (I can see this being a long post, so I apologize in advance)

Most of the people I know personally got into golf because they were mentored into golf, either by a friend or family member.  When I was a teen (80s) I had quite a few mentors I respected, and one of them was the Youth Pastor at my church who was an avid golfer.  He had a set of clubs in his office at church and that's how it all started.  I asked him about the clubs, asked him about the game, he taught me the interlocking grip, taught me how to putt like a pendulum, and it wasn't long before we were on a golf course driving range with him teaching me the basics of a golf swing.

Where are the mentors today?  Who are YOU mentoring (not just in golf, but in life)?

We grew up hearing about generation gaps.  At some points in history they're large.  Sometimes they're small.  But thanks to many things, I think today's generation gap is larger than I can ever remember.  When I was growing up, I would NEVER talk to an adult with the disrespect that MANY (maybe most) kids today have.  They think just because they reach the age of 18 and are still breathing that they are somehow equal to every adult in the world, and that's simply NOT the case.  If you're one of the people who thinks that, let me clue you in.  Just because you are legally an adult does NOT mean you deserve the same respect as someone who has achieved far more in life than you probably ever will.  Tell ya what...go get a degree and/or become successful in a career, become self-supporting, and start giving back to your community and I'll give you the same level of respect that I give others of us who have done the same.  Until then, accept the fact that you have NOT arrived, you have FAR more work to do, and you are NOT the stud that you think you are.

No matter how much I'd love to mentor kids with these attitudes, the simple fact is most of them don't WANT to be mentored.  They want to do it THEIR way and refuse to "conform" because their peers have brainwashed them into thinking that conformity is the enemy of personal freedom.  And as long as they're not receptive to mentoring, it's impossible to lead them into anything, much less a hobby/sport like golf which requires STRICT conformity to the rules in order to be appreciated.

Lisa and I hit the range at Valley Golf Saturday and again had to put up with some guys, probably late teens or very early 20's, who have a lot to learn about etiquette.  As near as I could tell, the three of them were having a challenge on who could kill the ball the deadest, and yelling after every shot.  Sometimes they'd sky the ball and end up hitting the roof just over the practice tees, yelling and laughing about that, too.  After about 30 minutes of listening to them, one of the guys from the pro shop came up to see if they needed something.  My wife explained it later.  It's an automated facility, and you adjust the height of the tee using a little touch pad.  Well, apparently they were also having a little contest to see what would happen if one of the other guys was constantly changing the height of the tee while the one guy was hitting (probably the cause of the shots hitting the roof) and one of them accidentally hit the "CALL" button for the pro shop.

The younger generation has equated self-discipline with following rules, and following rules is conformity, and conformity is bad.  Taking advice...well, that's like following rules, too.

The only way to get kids these days to do things is to convince them that they WANT to do it.  Then you have to convince them that there is a logical reason for every rule.  Otherwise you get people who argue with every rule, saying things like "you can't prove there's a need for the rule so it shouldn't be a rule" (anyone read the anchored putting ban thread?).

Golf is doomed as long as the younger generation is so high on themselves that they refuse to follow any of our advice, much less our traditions.

Oh, it may survive on the PS3 or XBox, but the game itself doesn't have much of a chance with the current "youngsters" in my opinion.  I can only hope that THEIR kids reverse the trend and actually learn to show respect for others, respect for history, and a desire to maintain tradition that their parents didn't seem to have.

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by MS256

I've played just about every "sport" that I ever had access to

That's great and good post, but that wasn't really my point - I don't care what they call it - that's just an ego debate for those that worry about semantics and think gold watches are neat and that there is some masculine/feminine tradeoff when their activity is labeled as 'sport' or not....  IMO - It's fun, it gets people out there - therefore it's good.  I like it immensely - I even like most of the people that do it too.  Call it whatever makes you happy and don't worry what others do.

My point was about how non-players try to minimize it and it gets into 'Webster's" dictionary pissing contests between those that play and those that don't and how that's not really the point at all.  The previous poster went through a revelation because he was caught up in that dorky back and forth - he could have not worried about it from the get go and been lucky enough to experience it even earlier in life.  The lesson here is, when someone says "well, GOLF's not a sport", the response isn't to argue the definition, it's really to just laugh with them and point out why you like it specifically.  They might just try it instead of it turning into a pissing contest over a word.

My other point is about professional level fitness and how it relates to a game such that fitness is good and an advantage for any game for pros not played with a joy stick or requiring shuffling and dealing.  Fitness is important to me, you won't get fit playing golf - not the level of fitness I'm talking about.  BUT - learning to play golf can very well save the life of someone that's NOT healthy.  And, you can 'get fit' training to be good at golf.

those are big wins for this little thing we all like to do

[cutshot878]

I'm not sure where the next generation of (non video game) golfers is going to come from. Junior golfers simply don't exist on the local "working class" public course that I live on. Any kid with a club in his hands and a few balls learning the game (in those last two hours before dark) is quickly driven off the course by the cranky old Scrooge of a ranger.  He ensures the slow death of the game I love. Where will the future players (and assorted golf addicts) come from?   Private courses and a return to a very exclusive pedigree: sons and daughters of doctors and lawyers. If they're not too busy riding their polo horses or prepping for the SAT.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by cutshot878

I'm not sure where the next generation of (non video game) golfers is going to come from. Junior golfers simply don't exist on the local "working class" public course that I live on. Any kid with a club in his hands and a few balls learning the game (in those last two hours before dark) is quickly driven off the course by the cranky old Scrooge of a ranger.  He ensures the slow death of the game I love. Where will the future players (and assorted golf addicts) come from?   Private courses and a return to a very exclusive pedigree: sons and daughters of doctors and lawyers. If they're not too busy riding their polo horses or prepping for the SAT.

Not true everywhere.  My home course/facility (a public muni, working class course) in Colorado has 3 courses.  A decent 9 hole par 3 course with bunkers, water hazards, and holes raging from 80 yards to 195 yards (with two tees to accommodate even very young kids).  The next step is a 9 hole executive course with four par 4 holes and five par 3 holes.  Both courses are suited to junior and beginner golfers, and the executive 9 gets a lot of play from seniors as well as beginners.  The course has several levels of lessons from novice group lessons to private lessons for experienced players.  They hold a 2 week junior camp every summer and the par 3 course is closed to other play during that period.  There will be a couple hundred kids out there for the various clinics.

That is the right way to learn the game, not sneaking on to the course without paying and batting balls around.  Part of the ranger's JOB is to ensure that the course is protected from just such encroachments.  If you were playing and he was ignoring the slow players in front of you, then you'd be calling him other names.  A player who has paid for a quick 9 after work doesn't want to be held up by some kid out there screwing around on the green.

[cutshot878]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Not true everywhere.  My home course/facility (a public muni, working class course) in Colorado has 3 courses.  A decent 9 hole par 3 course with bunkers, water hazards, and holes raging from 80 yards to 195 yards (with two tees to accommodate even very young kids).  The next step is a 9 hole executive course with four par 4 holes and five par 3 holes.  Both courses are suited to junior and beginner golfers, and the executive 9 gets a lot of play from seniors as well as beginners.  The course has several levels of lessons from novice group lessons to private lessons for experienced players.  They hold a 2 week junior camp every summer and the par 3 course is closed to other play during that period.  There will be a couple hundred kids out there for the various clinics.

That is the right way to learn the game, not sneaking on to the course without paying and batting balls around.  Part of the ranger's JOB is to ensure that the course is protected from just such encroachments.  If you were playing and he was ignoring the slow players in front of you, then you'd be calling him other names.  A player who has paid for a quick 9 after work doesn't want to be held up by some kid out there screwing around on the green.

I would agree with you when it's golf season here in Florida (December to April) when all the snowbirds are here and my neighborhood public course actually has some business. But there is no evening golfing at that time. Sunset at 6pm. But during the summer, when kids (the future of golf) are out of school, it's too hot and humid and too many thunderstorms for anybody to be playing.The course closes at 6pm. If golf was a game with a working class future there would be some junior golfers out there digging it out of the dirt, Bubba Watson style.  Instead there is just me out there. A 43 year old (who has been playing the game since he was 10 years old) with after-hour playing privileges watching a few kids use the fairway as a baseball or football field. Can I get at least 1 junior golfer? And hope that the game will still be accessible and exist at entry level without having to be so structured in a clinic or camp.  That was what was so appealing to me as a kid. Walking alone around a golf course, honing a craft, solitary, without adult supervision or surveillance. Freedom. No Ranger. A friendly neighborhood course. And the assistant and head pro encouraged you. As they had been mentored and encouraged in their childhood.    All I here from your comment is a grumpy :  "Hey Kid. Get off the course."

[Lihu]

Not true everywhere.  My home course/facility (a public muni, working class course) in Colorado has 3 courses.  A decent 9 hole par 3 course with bunkers, water hazards, and holes raging from 80 yards to 195 yards (with two tees to accommodate even very young kids).  The next step is a 9 hole executive course with four par 4 holes and five par 3 holes.  Both courses are suited to junior and beginner golfers, and the executive 9 gets a lot of play from seniors as well as beginners.  The course has several levels of lessons from novice group lessons to private lessons for experienced players.  They hold a 2 week junior camp every summer and the par 3 course is closed to other play during that period.  There will be a couple hundred kids out there for the various clinics. That is the right way to learn the game, not sneaking on to the course without paying and batting balls around.  Part of the ranger's JOB is to ensure that the course is protected from just such encroachments.  If you were playing and he was ignoring the slow players in front of you, then you'd be calling him other names.  A player who has paid for a quick 9 after work doesn't want to be held up by some kid out there screwing around on the green.

It costs only $1 for juniors this month on all LA courses. First tee members only pay $2 per round up to $5 per round. I see lots of kids out there playing quite well without sneaking onto courses.

[BostonBrew]

I remember watching an episode of Morning Drive and one of the anchors mentioned golf courses should allow juniors to play for free. 16 and under with an adult accompanying them. I believe that would help tremendously. Would help out the parents financially and potentially gets more kids out playing.

[MS256]

Originally Posted by cutshot878

I would agree with you when it's golf season here in Florida (December to April) when all the snowbirds are here and my neighborhood public course actually has some business. But there is no evening golfing at that time. Sunset at 6pm. But during the summer, when kids (the future of golf) are out of school, it's too hot and humid and too many thunderstorms for anybody to be playing.The course closes at 6pm. If golf was a game with a working class future there would be some junior golfers out there digging it out of the dirt, Bubba Watson style.  Instead there is just me out there. A 43 year old (who has been playing the game since he was 10 years old) with after-hour playing privileges watching a few kids use the fairway as a baseball or football field. Can I get at least 1 junior golfer? And hope that the game will still be accessible and exist at entry level without having to be so structured in a clinic or camp.  That was what was so appealing to me as a kid. Walking alone around a golf course, honing a craft, solitary, without adult supervision or surveillance. Freedom. No Ranger. A friendly neighborhood course. And the assistant and head pro encouraged you. As they had been mentored and encouraged in their childhood.    All I here from your comment is a grumpy :  "Hey Kid. Get off the course."

Even many of the kids that have access to golf (which is many more than when I was a kid) have little motivation to play it (or anything else) unless somebody leads them by the hand.

Now most kids don't play much of anything at all unless it's organized, and they spend most of their time laying in their bedrooms playing video games unless or until their parents drive them to an organized game or practice.

When I was a kid golf wasn't on our radar because there was only one course in the county and it was 15 miles away but there was almost never a time that every vacant field or lot didn't have kids playing pickup games of baseball or football during the day. Then we were off to the tennis courts, basketball courts, or the nightly ping pong tournament at the city park after dark.

None of that happens anymore.

[Dave2512]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Not true everywhere.  My home course/facility (a public muni, working class course) in Colorado has 3 courses.  A decent 9 hole par 3 course with bunkers, water hazards, and holes raging from 80 yards to 195 yards (with two tees to accommodate even very young kids).  The next step is a 9 hole executive course with four par 4 holes and five par 3 holes.  Both courses are suited to junior and beginner golfers, and the executive 9 gets a lot of play from seniors as well as beginners.  The course has several levels of lessons from novice group lessons to private lessons for experienced players.  They hold a 2 week junior camp every summer and the par 3 course is closed to other play during that period.  There will be a couple hundred kids out there for the various clinics.

That is the right way to learn the game, not sneaking on to the course without paying and batting balls around.  Part of the ranger's JOB is to ensure that the course is protected from just such encroachments.  If you were playing and he was ignoring the slow players in front of you, then you'd be calling him other names.  A player who has paid for a quick 9 after work doesn't want to be held up by some kid out there screwing around on the green.

I agree and I learned how to play at a similar facility, Hyland Hills. I'm not a world traveler but every decent sized metro area has courses like this. Some of the new courses here have really nice par 3's with quality junior programs. Kids signed up for the junior program at Hyland Hills don't have to pay the par 3 fees after the initial sign up fee and I think they get a discount on the blue course, which has junior tees. Green Valley Ranch has a similar program and there are always families and kids out there.

I suppose it can a regional thing but lack of new golfers isn't a problem in CO and the idea it's only affordable to the wealthy is a myth. I'm playing a course later with $19 18 hole fees. It's somewhat new, nice and has GPS carts. You couldn't send a kid to the mall and keep them busy for a few hours for less than $19. I see more people 18-30 on the course than I do people my age. Can't watch a PGA event without seeing at least a dozen or more little Rickie's out there in their orange Puma hats. The real problem is slow play and lack of etiquette if you ask me.

[cutshot878]

Originally Posted by Dave2512

I agree and I learned how to play at a similar facility, Hyland Hills. I'm not a world traveler but every decent sized metro area has courses like this. Some of the new courses here have really nice par 3's with quality junior programs. Kids signed up for the junior program at Hyland Hills don't have to pay the par 3 fees after the initial sign up fee and I think they get a discount on the blue course, which has junior tees. Green Valley Ranch has a similar program and there are always families and kids out there.

I suppose it can a regional thing but lack of new golfers isn't a problem in CO and the idea it's only affordable to the wealthy is a myth. I'm playing a course later with $19 18 hole fees. It's somewhat new, nice and has GPS carts. You couldn't send a kid to the mall and keep them busy for a few hours for less than $19. I see more people 18-30 on the course than I do people my age. Can't watch a PGA event without seeing at least a dozen or more little Rickie's out there in their orange Puma hats. The real problem is slow play and lack of etiquette if you ask me.

Well, I'm glad that the future of golf is safe in Colorado. Skiing and Golf. Not a bad combo. Still, I'll take our dying public courses,  mild winters, year round golf on poorly maintained tracks and beautiful beaches--- here in Florida. I won't mention hurricanes if you won't mention wildfires.

[David in FL]

Well, I'm glad that the future of golf is safe in Colorado. Skiing and Golf. Not a bad combo. Still, I'll take our dying public courses,  mild winters, year round golf on poorly maintained tracks and beautiful beaches--- here in Florida. I won't mention hurricanes if you won't mention wildfires.

You live in the wrong place in Florida if you have dying public courses and poorly maintained tracks! I can find something like 50 courses less than 45 minutes from me. Conditions ranging from mediocre to pristine, and probably 75% can be played for $40 or less these days.....

[Dave2512]

Originally Posted by cutshot878

Well, I'm glad that the future of golf is safe in Colorado. Skiing and Golf. Not a bad combo. Still, I'll take our dying public courses,  mild winters, year round golf on poorly maintained tracks and beautiful beaches--- here in Florida. I won't mention hurricanes if you won't mention wildfires.

We golf all year here too. It's on dormant grass and shaggy greens but it's still golf. I'd be willing to wager I played more Nov-Feb than I have since. A big part of it here is we're a healthy, active state compared to others. Not saying I am that person but if the stats are to be believed...

[bubble]

my repons : physical aptitudes are less appreciated these days in favour of materialistic and/or virtual/show yourself attributes.

youngsters dont do sports as much anymore. fun, games and sex appeal is elsewhere. even sweating is a total undesirable for certains girls.

[MS256]

Originally Posted by Dave2512

I suppose it can a regional thing but lack of new golfers isn't a problem in CO and the idea it's only affordable to the wealthy is a myth. I'm playing a course later with $19 18 hole fees.

Hmmm...You do realize that there are a whole lot of people that can't pay $19 for their kid to play enough golf to get good at it don't you? Even more with multiple kids.

I love golf but it's out of financial reach (or at least fiscal common sense) for many people I know, and especially out of reach to join a club or pay for a few kids to play a few times a week.

They don't give their kids $19 to spend at the mall very often either.

[Penny Pulz]

Women are not welcome in golf. Watch the golf channel and that is seen immediately. Plus it is run by old white men and rich old white men

[Lihu]

Hmmm...You do realize that there are a whole lot of people that can't pay $19 for their kid to play enough golf to get good at it don't you? Even more with multiple kids. I love golf but it's out of financial reach (or at least fiscal common sense) for many people I know, and especially out of reach to join a club or pay for a few kids to play a few times a week. They don't give their kids $19 to spend at the mall very often either.

If the kids play first tee, then the older kids can take the younger ones for $2 per round on many courses.

[Lihu]

Women are not welcome in golf. Watch the golf channel and that is seen immediately. Plus it is run by old white men and rich old white men

On the courses I play, there are lots of women playing. Not enough, I agree. It will take time for golf to remove negative stigmas, and more people will play.

[MS256]

Originally Posted by Penny Pulz

Women are not welcome in golf. Watch the golf channel and that is seen immediately. Plus it is run by old white men and rich old white men

I'm not buying that either. Recreational golf is not "run" by anybody. Any women that want to play can come play.

Tour golf is driven by audience demand. They would show crows sitting on a fence if that got the biggest ratings. It's not a very politically correct thing to say but part of the LPGA's problem is that there hasn't been an American superstar for a while. Many casual would be viewers click the channel when they can't pronounce a name in the top ten of the leaderboard.