Could new ideas help jump-start golf, which has seen a decline in popularity?
Craig Handel
While the Fort Myers Country Club is still going strong as it turns 100 Friday, the long-term future of golf doesn’t look so rosy.
In the past decade, 800 courses nationwide shut down, often for the real estate. Naples hasn’t had that happen but there's just one driving range in Collier County — Coral Isle Golf Center.
Drawing millennials into the game has been hard. The National Golf Federation says the number of U.S. players dropped from an all-time high of 30 million in 2005 to 24.1 million in 2015. While the U.S. golf industry had struggled to get junior players into the game, studies have shown beginners play a few rounds, then drop the sport entirely.
Death watch: How much longer can golf survive?
While these statistics are alarming, there are levels of optimism that golf can maintain or even have a resurgence. That's due to golf operators having an open mind to draw customers. Some of the initiatives include:
• Focusing on building junior golf.
• Embracing Topgolf instead of seeing it as competition.
• Being open to golfers playing a fraction of 18 holes, listening to music on the course and wearing cutoff jeans.
• Using the course for events other than golf.
“The smarter operators are kind of happy because there’s different things they can do,” said Steve Donahue, a writer for PGA Magazine. “They have events after hours, they have people play three or six or nine holes. Those who see golf as traditional with nine or 18 holes aren’t adapting to the times.
“And many have gone out of business.”
More:Fort Myers Country Club remains a link to city's past as it reaches 100 years in operation
Junior golf
Kraig Feighery, who runs Alico Family golf, saw where instructor David Leadbetter said that to grow the game, golf courses should have 10 percent of their players being juniors.
Feighery’s site constantly has events for young players. He even worked with a school’s STEM program and invited students to learn about golf using science and math.
At Fort Myers Country Club, a year-round pass for a junior player (5-18) is $75. Many courses around town have similar deals.
There’s the PGA Drive, Chip & Putt Championships that are likened to the NFL’s Punt, Pass & Kick competition.
Junior PGA Championships to expand by hosting respective 144-player fields in 2017
Tony Covey, editor for MyGolfSpot, and John Gardner, who has been a general manager or director of golf at Gulf Harbour, Quail West, and Raptor Bay, like the PGA Jr. league where teams play four nine-hole matches in a popular two-person scramble format. This reinforces the team concept and creating a bonding environment for learning the game. Coaches can also substitute players every three holes so all the golfers can participate.
Gardner said the program has more than 36,000 players.
“It’s their answer to Optimist Baseball,” Gardner said. “We’re also seeing parts of the world, like Asia, where golf is on the cusp of a positive and strong era,” he said.
Topgolf
Recently, Topgolf reached an agreement with Fort Myers officials to bring its business here.
Topgolf implements food, drink, interactive games, fire pits and bands with hitting golf balls at targets, and it’s popular with college students and millennials.
Topgolf coming to Fort Myers, city says
Lamb, a traditionalist who isn’t a big fan of Topgolf, shares Feighery’s view that if it’s popular, it will bring more exposure to the sport, which could encourage more people to try it.
Donahue said Topgolf's example has led to courses hosting events like picnics and movie nights.
“People see the golf course, say, ‘This is kind of a cool place' and they take lessons,’” Donahue said. “Topgolf had a lot to do with it. Smart owners, they think it’s great. The owner-operator who says, ‘That’s not real golf’, they’re already out of business or they’re gonna be out.”
Poking tradition in the nose
More than 35 years ago, a film called ‘Caddyshack’, made fun of the golf establishment and its rules.
The film included Rodney Dangerfield playing music on the course and showing off gadgets in his bag. The younger players wore shorts and non-traditional clothing.
That freedom could make the game more engaging, especially to those who want to use their Bluetooth and wear cutoff jeans on the course.
Donahue said Silo Ridge Field Club, a private club in New York, doesn’t have a dress code. “You can wear anything, bikinis,” he said. “You just can’t wear spiked heels because of the greens.”
Time is another factor. People are so busy they want the option of playing three or six holes. Most experts feel time – most rounds go from 4 ½ to 5 hours – is a bigger issue than cost.
Copperhead in Lehigh allows players to use part of their 18-hole purchase and come back another day.
Lamb said he’d also consider allowing three or six holes from May-October.
In late October, the Greg Norman Company launched "Shark Experience," a new golf technology — a teched-up golf cart — that Norman hopes will revolutionize the on-course experience for golfers.
Norman's company has partnered with Verizon, Club Car and GPSI, a leader in golf GPS technology to produce golf cart equipped with an HD-touchscreen that streams music, live sports, highlights, premium videos as well as golf tips from Norman.
While Donahue said many millennials feel you can take the USGA rules and “stick them in a garbage can,” Gardner said operators are going out of their way to appeal to different audiences with technology.
“Others have to make themselves available and attractive or go away,” he said. “You have to keep the product new and fresh.”
The future
When Covey spoke with an elderly man at his club, the man painted a gloomy, but in many cases, real assessment on golf.
“He said, ‘The sad thing is Tony, someday I’m going to die and nobody will be here to replace me,’” Covey said. “There really isn’t a young demographic to eclipse the older generation.”
While the infusion of junior golf encourages him, Covey said he believes the best it can do is minimize damage.
“There’s not enough to replace the baby boomer who quits or those who die,” he said. “And it’s still cost prohibitive.”
On the other hand, Gardner is highly upbeat about the future, pointing to attrition and new mindsets by operators as well as junior golf.
“There were too many courses built too quickly,” he said. “But I think golf is in the midst of a huge upswing. The programs the PGA of American has put forward have increased the growth of the game.
“And when Fort Myers Country Club celebrates 100 years, it’s a testament to how strong and how popular the game can be.”