Growing the game of Golf...what’s does it mean to you?

Another one of these I've thought about before posting. Think is like the rest of society, generally going the wrong direction. Example, was playing a couple of weeks ago and a younger group was ahead and had their carts about sixty yards from me and was hearing rap crap. Perfect drive with a hundred yards in and thinking how am I supposed to hit with this crap going on, bad shot. Look at golf as a sport not necessarily socializing.
 
Was playing my 9 hole course yesterday. First one out and played through the course once pretty quickly, On the 2nd time through, I got behind a dad and his two young kids - a boy about 8 - 10 y/o and a little girl who was younger. There were at least 2 different twosomes in front of them, so I was mentally prepared for the 9 holes to drag.

The thing is, it didn't. I stayed back so as not to have them feel rushed and would occasionally play 2 or 3 balls. The kids were taking swings and looked to be having a blast out on the course. The family kept pace with the groups in front and were in fact waiting on them on several holes. The family would occasionally be looking for their ball in the trees. but they would get on and off the green in a hurry. I assume he was telling the kids to pick up at some point, but it was impressive. It made me wonder why adults have such a rough time doing it. I almost wanted to thank the Dad for playing so fast. Lol. No one from behind ever caught up to me.

Anyway, that's exactly the kind of "growing the game" I'd like to see.
 
Growing the game mentions from most of the people on TV means growing wallets for those they are invested in.
 
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To me it means putting back into the game what I have got out of it. Although I suspect the saying originated as the game developed into an industry.
 
To me, it would be increasing the availability and reducing the costs in all areas, green fees, equipment, etc. ISn't going to happen. Costs will continue to go up, and not enough courses will be built to accommodate the increase in the number of golfers. Unfortunately, tee times will be harder to get, the length of rounds will increase, driving some away from the game.
 
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This is what it has meant around here:
  • Higher cost to play, in green fees and equipment.
  • Slower pace of play.
  • Hard to get tee times
  • More people on the course that don't know or care about golf, golf etiquette, respect for the course, or respect for other around them.
Yes, you pretty much hit the nail on the head, especially that last one: not replacing divots or repairing pitch marks, holes open in front of them and not caring that they're backing up the course, driving their carts wherever they want, etc.
 
Good morning,.... *sip* ahhhh... coffee... :cool:

Now that I am officially off work (school's out, as per that old Alice Cooper song), and not driving my school bus until next school year, I have loads of time for golf and kayaking, and putting thought into threads like this one....

I guess I would talk to perspective newbies on golf to try to stay as cheap as possible, so they don't get turned off at the expense. Play the small Muni 9 hole courses for a while and walk with a pull cart or whatever. Have fun with it, is the main key. DON'T go to some garage sale somewhere and get a set of ratty beatup clubs from 1982 that gathered decades of dust in the back of someone's garage. A basic starter set from Academy or Dick's Sporting Goods on sale, would be good to begin with. #1 most important of all, DON'T look at the top name courses and/or resorts. The green fees would instantly turn them off and horrify them. #2 second important, is DON'T get discouraged, upset, angry, throwing clubs, etc... Golf is supposed to be fun and enjoyable! Go to the driving ranges and learn how to swing properly. Take lessons. Once you can hit straight, and learn what each club does, THEN you can move to the small Muni 9 hole courses and have a great time.

THAT is what I would do and/or say to help grow the game of golf. Way too many times we've come across people on a nice 18 hole course, who are... well... um... a complete newbie and way out of their league. They accidently end up holding up the entire course.
 
Would be nice if more women can enjoy the game. Personally I think that if you havent started working on that hand/eye stuff at a young age (for many people) the odds that you'll be good at it later in life is much lower. Golf is a damn tough sport if you have gotten in to it at a young age.
 
More growing the game…

That article is absolute horse ****. It fails to mention the 19 public courses or so with in 30 minutes or the 4 private clubs with in 10 minutes that went public. Having lived there it’s just a negative slant to fit a narrative rather than dealing in facts.

Areas where @War Eagle lives are not hard up for public play.
 
That article is absolute horse ****. It fails to mention the 19 public courses or so with in 30 minutes or the 4 private clubs with in 10 minutes that went public. Having lived there it’s just a negative slant to fit a narrative rather than dealing in facts.

Areas where @War Eagle lives are not hard up for public play.
Not at all. That article is bullsh*t.
 
Finding ways to get young people (grade schoolers) involved is one way. It for sure doesn't mean taking millions of dollars from Saudis.
 
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