Google Consumer Surveys reports that fewer than 15% of golfers keep a handicap

[rkim291968]

I'm all for anything that brings more people to the sport. With that said, I personally will not be playing any non-conforming equipment, and am not obligated to like it when I get beat by someone who is. I know this equipment wouldn't be allowed in formal tournaments and things of that nature, but it will show up in lower level tournaments and when playing with buddies. First time my brother in law mouths off about beating me while playing some non-conforming junk, I'll be sure to let him know about it.

+1.

But I noticed how some equipment become non conforming (or vice versa) as rules change.   What is conforming can be legal 10 years later.   I think there is a conspiracy by golf companies to keep changing rules so that they can sell more !#$!@# to us.   It's like FIFA keep changing official soccer balls to sell more balls but I digress.

[rkim291968]

"Golfers are leaving the game, largely due to inconvenient rules, excessive play times and high costs."

I'm not buying the rules excuse at all and I'm extremely skeptical of the playing time one also.  If you can find time to watch 50 hours of TV a week (and most Americans do) you can sure as hell find time to golf.  If people are leaving the game it's because of the cost.  This is easily the most expensive hobby I've ever had and eventhough I can afford it at the moment I still feel like I'm hemorrhaging money every time I go out to play.  Plus it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the cheaper courses are the busier ones.

+1 on leaving game due to the rules.   Sounds like a lame excuse.   Golfers who quit are more likely to quit due to their inability to do better and lose interest b/c of it.  And that's true for other sports and games.

[Lihu]

+1 on leaving game due to the rules.   Sounds like a lame excuse.   Golfers who quit are more likely to quit due to their inability to do better and lose interest b/c of it.  And that's true for other sports and games.

I guess it could also be how the rules are presented to them. A kind and gentle delivery of the rules to a neebie, would certainly make it easier for them to come back next time, so to speak.

[WUTiger]

I'm not surprised by the percentages. I had suspicions two-thirds of golfers were just "out there" to have fun, now we have hard figures.

I would like to know the Polara sampling frame - the list of actual people contacted - was representative of the broad USA population.

Some possible causes of the carefree attitudes: People entering golf outside the country club pipeline. Once upon a time, golf had a heavy aura of an upper-class activity. Most everyday people who played golf got involved by being a caddie as a teenager. I caddied back in the 1960s-70s, and a fair number of both country club and public golfers were sticklers for the rules. The everyday golfers wanted to show that they could be "high class" too. By late 1970s, caddies had faded away at your average country club, and this pathway to golf became less traveled. Newer golfers came in through the public-course/semi-private route.

Since the 1990s, the biggest growth in golf has been in semi-private clubs - yearly fee and space-available play - and in public courses. Mid-level country clubs are struggling to stay open. Throw in the Recession, and golf has become an occasional activity for most, rather than a deep personal sub-culture.

[TJBam]

What flame?   I am in full agreement.    Golf started out as a game, and it still is (or should be for most of us who can't make a living out of it).   The rules should dictate tournaments & competitions.  For weekend hackers, loose interpretation of the rules can increase one's life expectancy (and that of his caddies, judging by violent nature of some golfers who can hire caddies - refer to another thread ).   Strict interpretation of the rules on the other hand can increase one's chance of having a stroke.

- One of the "overwhelmed"

That one liner is sweet as honey and I will be pulling it out soon.

[rkim291968]

That one liner is sweet as honey and I will be pulling it out soon.

Thanks.

( If I may be so immodest, I thought it was stroke of a genius when I wrote it.   Oops, now I am milking it.  )

[dennyjones]

I agree with  k-troop.    I don't play competitively and when I do play, I'm usually playing against my previous score.   On occasion, I'll bet a Pepsi but for what I do, I don't see a need for a handicap.   I do keep my scores in Golflogix which calculates a handicap but I only use it to see my improvement.