You could see this coming years ago. As boomers go, so goes golf. Being dedicated to golf is sorta like eating ham salad sandwiches in a public setting other than a church hall - just something you don't see anyone much under 45 taking on in a big way any more. Why?
The men gathered in a new golf clubhouse here a couple of weeks ago circled the problem from every angle, like caddies lining up a shot out of the rough. "We have to change our mentality," said Richard Rocchio, a public relations consultant. "The problem is time," offered Walter Hurney, a real estate developer. "There just isn’t enough time. Men won't spend a whole day away from their family anymore."Which is to suggest a number of things. Has golf not had the necessary a success in attracting women and kids to the game? Has there been a retraction in the population of idle middle managers available during what is otherwise called the work week? Has the crackdown on silly clothes finally had the desired effect? Times simply change. Did you know that mini golf used to be called things like "crazy golf" as if there was some sort of distinction being made?
People often say that people are not as active but this sort of reminds me of the decline in church going or Masonic Lodge attendance as well. People I know simply do not like being organized by others, being subject to what the article cited above calls the "surfeit of etiquette rules". Maybe people are just doing what they like. Any not so many people like golf.
Comments
David Janes - February 21, 2008 9:06 am
Maybe it's because you can't use golf to get away from the wife anymore -- she'll want to come along and golf too.
sean liddle - February 21, 2008 9:46 am
Well, I for one love golf and were I independently wealthy, I would golf all week long. But then again, I didn't even go out last year...
When I was a kid, Dad and Mum were club members and on the executive and hence it was expected that I would hang out with the other golf brats but I couldn't stand the little snots so I shirked going more than once a week or so. I was honestly quite good but ended up quitting the game at about 15 because every game with dad turned into a lesson and an exercise in embarassment as I was shown off to others which made it not fun at all. When I returned to the game in the late 90s, I found that no longer was it a peaceful quiet game where you could play a round ALONE if you wanted, but a frantic crazy fast busy game because every Tom Dick and Harry from the local factory had bought clubs and taken it up ..
I long for the game to become less popular to the general public over the next few years so I can slowly ease back into it as I slide out of sports that leave me broken and whiney.
Paul of Kingston - February 21, 2008 10:11 am
Two words: old school. Despite the industry's attempt to sportify golf it remains a game akin to skittles in my mind.
My father always referred to it as "a good walk spoiled" and I think that came from his disdain for all things that might be associated with the classist inequities of the England that he turned his back on in the early 1960's. I tend to agree with him. I know that golf can be an activity enjoyed by the whole family regardless of economic endowment, but more often than not it is the domain of yesterday's suburban business man. Most courses are chocked full with the Mr. Drysdales in various stages of aging or their gaggles of society wives.
Today's golf experience is the product of a 1950's North American Dream - and aside from the ticky tacky suburb probably one of its last surviving trappings.
I can play the odd game here and there but I could never embrace the golf lifestyle or make it a part of my business M.O. If that were the case for everyone I expect that the game would become as rare as that other big 50's past-time - bowling.
Alan - February 21, 2008 10:15 am
Don't you be dissing skittles. Skittles rule.
sean liddle - February 21, 2008 10:47 am
I went bowling two weeks ago. Now that is a sport that I would like to see die off..
The courses that are private definitely have the Mr Drysdales and the blue haired wives, absolutely, but the public courses are choked with Mister Slates, Homer Simpsons and their underlings.
Chris Taylor - February 21, 2008 1:44 pm
Sean is correct, golf is no longer relaxing. People are not going to drop a few hundred bucks on an activity whose fun factor is becoming secondary to your time- and course-management skills.
If you're out on the weekend then every course is loaded to the gills, groups are always foresomes, and the four ahead of you is always too slow, and the four behind always too fast. Playing on a good course is expensive and time-consuming, because everyone wants to play there. And even the good courses are not really worth the money you are shelling out to play there. Playing on a bad course is cheap and still time-consuming, because everyone who can't afford the multiple-hundreds to play on the preferred courses line up for the not-so-good courses.
It is like going to Canada's Wonderland. The marketing promise of fun times is crushed by the reality of waiting 45 minutes in line just to have a merely so-so 2-minute ride. Do it enough times and multiple boring 45min investments for 2-minute adrenalin payoffs looks less and less attractive.
The only time golf is halfway decent is if you go in the early early morning at about 0600 or 0630 (latest). Then you stand a chance of getting half a round done in a reasonable amount of time, except you can't quite fully relax because you have to bolt to the office right after.
It was a good game, but its popularity sowed the seeds of its demise.
Alan - February 21, 2008 2:03 pm
My favorite golfing experience was always on the crappier sort of courses with buddies and a few beer, keeping score only to confirm who beat who. Anything more formal is both boring and not the point. My favorite course was always Guysborough, NS but mainly for the view but also the insane tee shot off the cliff.
sean liddle - February 21, 2008 2:17 pm
Captcha: "St Ankles" I kid you not...
Chris, I never thought of playing before work. Hrmm... When I was a consultant 6 years ago, I used to clock in 25+ games a summer with select clients including tournaments, all paid for by expenses. Once I had to pay for myself, the high cost, crowded courses and slow players made it so much less attractive. Hooray for Tiger Woods on the Gamecube!
I used to play with beer every few holes till I realized that I had gone from shooting in the 90s to the 120 range.. Ditched the beer till the 19th hole and my game dropped to under 90, two 18s in a row one hot summer day two years ago..
Dang Alan. Thanks to this post I've gone out and bought a Golf DIgest mag and started pricing getting my clubs re-gripped in March..
Chris Taylor - February 21, 2008 2:39 pm
Kind of depends on the objective, I guess. These days my golf outings are a sort of skins game to determine who has to pay the majority share of beer tabs throughout the winter. That can add up into the thousands pretty easily. So we keep a close eye on the score and handicapping.
I don't mind the crappy courses at all, but inevitably one of my foursome is more familiar with it, so they play like an ace and the rest of us bring our lousier games to the table. On the expensive courses you get better varieties of beer and because none of us play it more than once a season, we are all equally handicapped in course-foreknowledge.
I don't really care either way, I am always playing to beat my buddies; I don't want to pay their beer tabs all winter. But if I have to spend 5 hours playing a 3.5-hour course, then I'd rather it be well-maintained with a beer cart that arrives frequently. But I have had a lot of fun on lousy courses, and in fact my all-time favourite courses are still the two here in the city where I first learned the game.
sean liddle - February 21, 2008 3:34 pm
I too like the less posh courses on occasion. The Municipal one in Kingston is like playing mini-golf, what with the tires and such popping up out of the ground oncein a while in the middle of fairways and the occasional marsh fire's smoke handicapping the elderly people ahead of you (house rule, you play around them if they cough and choke for more than 3 minutes).
Best private course in area: Glen Lawrence
Best in 100 km: Oak Hills GCC