coleman

. To The Golf Community, The number of young people or any age getting into the game of golf has been on a steady decline for the last few years. This is troubling to me because it is something that I have enjoyed most of my life. This letter is addressed to parents, golf coaches, and kids who are curious about the game. There are a few key factors on why the game has not been getting the attention that it has in the past. According to National Golf Foundations latest participation report, the number of golfers age 18-34 has decreased by 30 percent from over the last 30 years. Tiger Woods has not been a contender in golf for a while. This has effected golf, because he has been the games biggest salesman. When Tiger was in his prime, the number of young people playing and getting into the game went up. Growing up watching Tiger, definitely encouraged me to get out on the course and play, now that he is in decline kids do not have a definite idol to look up too. Although Tiger was golfing biggest star, you can’t blame it all on him. With all the technology and what not today, our attention spans have decreased, so when you tell a kid that a round of golf is around four hours, they tend to shy away. I feel this would be good however because it could teach these young kids that are growing up in an increasingly technology based world that there is a simple pleasure to getting out and playing golf with people you enjoy being around. There have been efforts to make the game more appealing. These include making the courses shorter so rounds don’t take as long. Golf is defiantly one of the more expensive sports, and a declining middle class has caused the number of people playing to go down. Golf equipment and course prices have skyrocketed and many people just don’t have the resources to spend that much money on a hobby. People just learning the game don’t want to pay an absurd amount of money to play a round when they don’t know if they will do good or not. Course owners and club manufactures have to understand if they want to appeal more people to their courses and products that there have to be changes made in how much they are charging. When I was growing up I was very thankful that my dad played and got me into golf. There is no doubt that it takes a lot of practice and frustration to get where you want to be. The process can be grueling but it all pays off and the lessons learned while getting there are something you can’t get anywhere else. I hope every kid can get the chance to at least give it a try because for me it was something that taught me a lot about patience, testing my limits, and manners. Parents who are thinking about what sport to introduce to their kids, golf is a great one to talk to them about. The friends and memories I have made on the golf course are something I wouldn’t trade, and the fact that less and less kids are getting into the game disheartens me because of all that I know golf has to offer. Coaches need to try and make the game fun for these kids, and try to make it more fun. My experience is that coaches get too serious about the game and really don’t make it an enjoyable experience for kids. It is a serious game at times, but having fun with it is important. At the end of the day, I feel that golf will make its comeback and people will see how nice of a game it is and what it has to offer. Companies such as Top Golf have helped this resurgence by giving the game a more fun atmosphere. There has to be an effort by everybody in the golf community if we want to turn these numbers around.