Young People not Playing. Golf Leagues Shrinking

[Lihu]

I bet they would if they were collecting your paycheck.

You can't realistically expect someone to work as hard as the owner for less money and fewer perks, if they were willing to do that they would be a business owner themselves.

No, not true at all.

If they owned the business, and not just because of the "salary".

[Strandly]

No, not true at all.

If they owned the business, and not just because of the "salary".

I disagree.  If you pay someone a wage they know they can't get anywhere else they're going to treat that job like it's something they can't afford to lose.

[Lihu]

Back to the topic, the leagues in my area are mostly 18 hole ones with lots of retired people. I would like to join one of them when I retire. There are 9 hole courses with 9 hole leagues, but the times are not that good either.

There are thousands of kids in the So. Cal. leagues, there is no shortage of kids playing golf where I am. As long as you make courses and events and such kid friendly, there will be lots of kids playing. If I go to my local driving ranges (which are very kid friendly), and take a snapshot at any time school is out there will be kids in the picture.

There is an explosion of golf going on in my area. Two reasons. immigrants who come from a place where only the wealthy can play golf, the parents who come from there appreciate the fact that golf is accessible to the middle class here. I overheard many of them expressing their appreciation of golfing in the US. The other is that all the courses in the area became kid friendly. They have even hired instructors targeted to teaching children.

The main proponent of Golf for kids is the First Tee program, and many other organizations are following suit.

Golf is not really shrinking in So. Cal. Of course, I have only been involved with it for less than 4 years, but I see growth and not shrinkage.

[jamo]

Back to the topic, the leagues in my area are mostly 18 hole ones with lots of retired people. I would like to join one of them when I retire. There are 9 hole courses with 9 hole leagues, but the times are not that good either. There are thousands of kids in the So. Cal. leagues, there is no shortage of kids playing golf where I am. As long as you make courses and events and such kid friendly, there will be lots of kids playing. If I go to my local driving ranges (which are very kid friendly), and take a snapshot at any time school is out there will be kids in the picture. There is an explosion of golf going on in my area. Two reasons. immigrants who come from a place where only the wealthy can play golf, the parents who come from there appreciate the fact that golf is accessible to the middle class here. I overheard many of them expressing their appreciation of golfing in the US. The other is that all the courses in the area became kid friendly. They have even hired instructors targeted to teaching children. The main proponent of Golf for kids is the First Tee program, and many other organizations are following suit. Golf is not really shrinking in So. Cal . Of course, I have only been involved with it for less than 4 years, but I see growth and not shrinkage.

Maybe, but that's just one person's anecdote. Most things I've read say that participation in golf has been shrinking. Also, FWIW, I think this thread is somewhat more about young adults rather than juniors. 10-year-olds aren't exactly playing in men's leagues.

[Dave2512]

However maybe it's too soon to see the impact of First Tee and the other programs that are new to the game.

[iacas]

Golf is not really shrinking in So. Cal. Of course, I have only been involved with it for less than 4 years, but I see growth and not shrinkage.

@Lihu , as someone with a scientific mind, it's odd to me when you say things like this. What's the proof? As @jamo says it's just anecdotal. It's your experience. You're playing golf more, perhaps, and taking your kid out, so it might very easily seem like it's growing. The numbers tell a different story, nationally, and the trend probably holds up locally too.

[Lihu]

Maybe, but that's just one person's anecdote. Most things I've read say that participation in golf has been shrinking.

Also, FWIW, I think this thread is somewhat more about young adults rather than juniors. 10-year-olds aren't exactly playing in men's leagues.

True, but in 7 years they will be old enough. Teens have much more time to play golf than us "workers". Maybe there could be open leagues rather than "men's leagues"?

However maybe it's too soon to see the impact of First Tee and the other programs that are new to the game.

True, they started in 1997. There are lots of good golfers who played first tee. I think it got them over the learning hump at a young age.

[Lihu]

@Lihu, as someone with a scientific mind, it's odd to me when you say things like this. What's the proof? As @jamo says it's just anecdotal. It's your experience. You're playing golf more, perhaps, and taking your kid out, so it might very easily seem like it's growing. The numbers tell a different story, nationally, and the trend probably holds up locally too.

Sure, it is completely anecdotal, but the participation seems to be growing locally and more than when I started 4 years ago. The four courses I play in my area always fill their tee times. I really have no idea what it was like 10 years ago or more?

I asked one of the First Tee coaches, and she said that there are over 2000 children participating in our area. That number is 5 times the few hundred in the program when my kids started. There are a lot more families out on the easier local courses too. I agree that when my son and I venture out to the Inland Empire for more challenging courses, it's pretty barren. Not many golfers out there. I just figured they are just more difficult to play, so participation is less.

I feel bad if the industry as a whole is decreasing.

What is being done outside my local bubble to attract more people to it?

[jamo]

True, but in 7 years they will be old enough. Teens have much more time to play golf than us "workers". Maybe there could be open leagues rather than "men's leagues"?

That's true.

[Jodastra]

I took up golf at like 30. leagues have been favorable or non-favorable to me, depending on course, etc. most of the course do offer an alternate's slot if you can be available in an hours time. I remember in the 90's, around here, you had to be in an association, lodge, union, etc to get on a league board...and league play was 5 nights a week on my local course. Today, they are one night, need alternates, and play sixsomes on 9 holes...not my bag "O" fun.  Granted given the time in the summer I could see starting a league for all, and just have fun.

[CoachinPA]

Part of it might just be advertising.  All we can realistically do at work is put up a flyer on a cork board.  Word of mouth has not been super productive.  Maybe I should post on craigs list or something.

[pumaAttack]

I would love to join a golf league, but haven't really found one in my area.

I am 28 years old and often play as a single.  Sometimes I am paired with people and other times not.

[rkim291968]

Sure, it is completely anecdotal, but the participation seems to be growing locally and more than when I started 4 years ago. The four courses I play in my area always fill their tee times. I really have no idea what it was like 10 years ago or more?

You and I started playing golf when US were still in recession or recovering from it.   Los Angeles area may be enjoying the comeback.  In other parts of CA (and other states), they got caught with building too many golf courses during the house bubble and are paying for it.    Some of the courses I know have closed, or operating in less capacity (only opening one course at a time - DiabloGrande in Patterson for example, or reducing 18 holes to 9).

[Lihu]

You and I started playing golf when US were still in recession or recovering from it.   Los Angeles area may be enjoying the comeback.  In other parts of CA (and other states), they got caught with building too many golf courses during the house bubble and are paying for it.    Some of the courses I know have closed, or operating in less capacity (only opening one course at a time - DiabloGrande in Patterson for example, or reducing 18 holes to 9).

Agreed, that's why I added the part about not knowing anything about the participation levels a decade earlier.

Making it easier for people to play is the best method to keep people from quitting, but not necessarily attract new people to it.

In my case, it was completely serendipitous that my family got into golf at all. My wife signed my kids up for the First Tee program. I don't remember why my wife signed up my kids to play. I think it was her friend's kids that wanted to sign up and convinced my kids to play. I think my initial response was that I would prefer to be in a blind somewhere really cold with a bow in hand waiting for deer to show up for the kill. Of course, my actual preference was to ski, but being that there was no snow in the local mountains for 2 seasons already I really had no choice but to sit at a golf course two times a week. So, instead of sitting and eating, I decided to hit a few balls. At first it was boring, but as I started to really wallop the ball I felt something primal and exciting. Hitting the ball as far as I could was all I cared about. It felt good .

So, what do most other people like about golf?

Maybe the same thing?