Improving the popularity of golf

[supercow]

Was sitting around and some thoughts came into my mind on how to improve the popularity of golf. Anyway, came up with this -

http://dtbnguyen.googlepages.com/Imp...-Golf-1.02.pdf

No doubt, some of the ideas seem pretty strange but some of the them include:

- breaking the course up at 6/9/12/18 holes so that people can still play a few holes after work without having to pay the full green fee
- having bigger gaps between tees so that ladies/kids have a genuine chance of scoring well
- bundling lessons with clubs so that it is easier for golfers entering the game for the first time
- adding miniature 'scoops' on golf clubs to make them more forgiving for golfing novices
- having standardised starter sets which comprise high lofted/short shafter driver, hybrids (since most beginners find it hard to hit long irons/fairway woods), a few irons (to give people a taste of what real golf is about), wedge (to give people the opportunity to practice in their yard), and putter to make it simpler/cheaper to enter the game
- yadayada...

[ClintonM3]

I also agree that a "pay what you play" policy with golf course will benefit many. Say you get out of work at 5. Only have an hour and half till sunset. Maybe 6 or 7 holes. It would be nice if they can change only the holes you play.

ESPN golf school gives you golf clubs with their lessons. I should have done it. Ignite irons, a wedge, a putter, and a fairway. I might still do it next season. Maybe they will have the slingshots available.

[Diggitydog]

Johnny Miller wrote in GD about setting up a golf round as 12 holes. The time commitment for the family man of 5 hour rounds is so huge it takes a great percentage of the people out of the game. I don't like paying for 9 holes at a higher per hole rate than 18. I could see myself playing more golf if 18 hole courses were broken up into 3 - 6 hole segments.

[iacas]

- breaking the course up at 6/9/12/18 holes so that people can still play a few holes after work without having to pay the full green fee

That's why they invented the "twilight" fee, and what if everyone wants to start on #10? Or #1? Or #7 or #3 or any other hole? Having two tees in use (#1 and #10) is plenty, and this pricing will only complicate things. Plus, if someone pays only for six holes, how will you stop them after 12 or 6? What if holes 7 and 13 are really far from the clubhouse?

- bundling lessons with clubs so that it is easier for golfers entering the game for the first time

Some places will do that. But that makes no sense - a lot of golfers don't want to pay extra because they won't ever use the lessons, in which case you're not really "bundling" anything anymore.

- adding miniature 'scoops' on golf clubs to make them more forgiving for golfing novices.

Uhm, and illegal. Where would you draw the line and why would you force someone to buy new clubs just for improving? What if a scratch golfer uses one of the "scoopy" clubs in competition? This one's just a bad idea all around. You learn with the equipment you'll play with when you get better. Play from the red tees if you want golf to be more fun when you're a novice.

- having standardised starter sets which comprise high lofted/short shafter driver, hybrids (since most beginners find it hard to hit long irons/fairway woods), a few irons (to give people a taste of what real golf is about), wedge (to give people the opportunity to practice in their yard), and putter to make it simpler/cheaper to enter the game

You can't dictate market forces like that, though. If that were a viable market, I'm sure someone would be selling clubs like that.

I also agree that a "pay what you play" policy with golf course will benefit many. Say you get out of work at 5. Only have an hour and half till sunset. Maybe 6 or 7 holes. It would be nice if they can change only the holes you play.

Again, twilight rates exist for that reason. Sometimes they're a steal!

Johnny Miller wrote in GD about setting up a golf round as 12 holes. The time commitment for the family man of 5 hour rounds is so huge it takes a great percentage of the people out of the game. I don't like paying for 9 holes at a higher per hole rate than 18. I could see myself playing more golf if 18 hole courses were broken up into 3 - 6 hole segments.

Here's a better solution that's just as likely (i.e. sadly, not very likely at all) to solve the problem: make everyone play faster.

I'm not being "contrary" today for the sake of being contrary. I just disagree with a lot of these ideas.