As Kramer so enthusiastically asked while trying to get Jerry and George to go out with him and hit golf balls, “Who wants to have some fun?” Not kids, it appears. A recent story in the Wall Street Journal points out that, according to the National Golf Foundation’s most recent participation report, the number of golfers age 6-17 dropped 24 percent to 2.9 million from 3.8 million between 2005 and 2008. Kind of not surprising, with stuff like this going on. OK, not really; most regular golfers hardly ever throw a kid into a bush. The WSJ article points out that large, intimidating courses and lack of time are the main culprits.
Resort and premium courses built by entrepreneurs more interested in real estate than golf drove the latest boom. Although there are 492 more golf courses in the U.S. today than in 2000 (15,979 compared with 15,487) the number of nine-hole courses has dropped to 4,441 from 4,768, while par-3s have dropped to 854 from 895.
On a smaller scale: Try finding a decent pitch-and-putt where young kids and their families can hone their skills playing a mini-version of the game that doesn’t involve putting through a windmill.
Remember the kid who heckled Tiger at the Player’s Championship? He got plenty of grief here in the comments section, but he’s also the future of the sport. So be a little nicer to … hey, someone stole my golf bag. Stop that little bastard!
The lack of humility before Tuesday that’s being displayed here, uh… staggers me.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT …
What you missed while wondering, is it coffin pizza, or is it DiGiorno’s?
* Three men cross an Italian lake in a bouncy castle. Soon to be a movie starring Johnny Depp.
* Michigan baseball team comes back from two-touchdown deficit. Yeah, you heard me.
* 2-year-old reels in 20-pound muskie with Barbie fishing pole. I’d call shenanigans, but I don’t want to anger her.
***
TODAY IN MARK TRAIL …
If by “Sassy’s trail” you mean “the dumpster behind Carl’s Jr.,” then yes, you are correct.
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- Arky ark - May 18, 2010 at 11:11 AM
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Golf takes time, and is still an expensive sport to play…..we are in a recession, in case anyone forgot!
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- GeorgeB - May 18, 2010 at 11:29 AM
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When I was working, I was looking forward to retirement to play more golf. Now i have the time but due to the recession, my IRA has tanked and I cannot afford $130 per week to play. Go figure.
Golf courses are hurting too.
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- Fore - May 18, 2010 at 11:45 AM
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I love the game of golf and Arky ark has it dead on. In a world of ADD/ADHD instant gratification kids, I don’t think golf is high on the list of things to do. It is an expensive time consuming sport that most adults have trouble justifying let alone kids.
During this recession golf has been the one expense that I have cut. Instead of getting out 20-30 times through spring summer and fall in Cleveland I get out twice, if I am lucky I might make a half dozen times.
I remember when I first started I could get a large bucket of balls at the range for four bucks, play a par three for five and hit some of the public tracks on weekdays for 18 bucks with cart. As the popularity increased so did the price and now that the popularity is waning the price is increasing again due to supply and demand. It costs the same to upkeep a course whether one person played or 100. It’s the ultimate catch 22.
As I have gotten older I have more time than ever to play but I don’t have the money. Before the recession I had the money but not the time. Tiger may have made the sport popular and he did do his part in trying to make it affordable for kids but in reality there isn’t much that can be done to make this sport appealing to the masses.
Golf is like dating a gold digger, it’s enjoyment is based on how much you can afford to spend on the relationship.
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- Lanny Larsen - May 18, 2010 at 11:47 AM
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Golf is wondering why the 6-17 year old is leaving Golf for something CHEAPER TO PLAY. The answer is in the question. Golf like any other pro sport seems to think it should play only the the WEALTHY. The average Joe builds you up and you push him down. It’s not ROCKET SCIENCE guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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- justagolfer - May 18, 2010 at 11:48 AM
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Perhaps the next big business for golf is to develop some real estate projects that incorporate both a 6600 yd course and a course designed for the 6-12 year old who are just starting out. Remember, golf is a different game than any other we expose our kids too. Soccer; tennis; baseball; football – they all have a common thread, it is easy to fit in as a player no matter what your skill set. golf is different in that the child is playing against the course and htemselves to start with. It can be discouraging to some. Perhaps Mr. Trump should look to this suggestion as a possible future project.
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- Steve - May 18, 2010 at 12:08 PM
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Par 3′s are fun and affordable, challenging for everyone, and less intimidating for kids. There should be more of them.
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- William - May 18, 2010 at 12:16 PM
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We played municipal courses, with hand me down clubs, lake recovered balls, 2-3 times a week during the heigth of summer vacation on a summer youth pass that cost us almost nothing. We never got any good, but enjoyed every minute as boys do being outside and out of school. Our moms dropped us off and picked us up, because not every mom worked. We walked the course, carts weren’t required. Just like what used to pass for youth baseball, football or soccer – money, special coaching and travel teams weren’t required.
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- Thomas E. Fuller - May 18, 2010 at 12:53 PM
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I’m 82 years old. I refer to my golf swing as 2 seconds
of hell. But it’s better than sitting at home and rotting
away.
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- Ron - May 18, 2010 at 12:54 PM
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This has to be the best article I’ve ever seen on Out of Bounds. It is revelent to the sport. I agree with most everyone above. The cost of playing is why golf attendance is down. Here in Las Vegas you cannot play on a regulation course for under 50’00 any more unlsess you find a course with twilight hours and play in 100 degree weather.
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- CA Hornung - May 18, 2010 at 12:58 PM
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Golf has become very exensive and even more time consuming with fewer municipal courses that you can play on-demand without making a tee time weeks in advance. Its also a difficult game to play well and with the increasing degree of difficulty of todays courses playing poorly is not only not much fun, it can be very expensive (e.g., lost golfballs at >$1 each). But there is, I believe, another reason why young kids aren’t talking up the game and that is the lack of parental instruction in how to play. On countless trips to the driving range I see kids not knowing how to grip a club and having no idea of proper swing mechanics just flailing at the ball—ususally the first club they pick up is a driver. Meanwhile, at the next station is a father who is not paying any attention to their son or daughter and who is often equally inept at the game. Kids need instruction and without it they will not become good enough to enjoy the game and if they don’t enjoy it they won’t play it! Fathers, when you take your child to the driving range, spend some time teaching them the game and if you don’t play well enough to instruct them, find someone to teach both of you. They’ll thank you for it.
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- Paul - May 18, 2010 at 1:15 PM
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Good article. As an avid golfer and cc member who is trying to figure out how to get rounds up so does don’t, there are a couple of things. The pro at our course is convinced that metal spikes and the click clack of them is key to attracting them to get started. Its cool and different. He may have a point but to me its more than that. Of course there are the other options that are now available and may of them are inside (500 channels on the TV/video games/wii/etc.). The comment about instant gratification is right on. Golf, and being good at it, is hard and takes time and effort. There is a laziness in many children today that I don’t remember as a kid (I am 44 now). Also, golf, especially goog golf, requires a person spend time alone. Seems like that is harder for kids today as well. Please keep this Blog going and send any ideas you have about getting kids involved. Peace.
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- max291 - May 19, 2010 at 9:12 PM
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as kids we would grab a 10 yr old 2 wood, a 5, 9 and a putter and walk 5 miles to the closest muni course, jump on at #2 and
play until someone run us off … today golf is too expensive for
most parents to take their kids often enough to learn the game.
as always, it’s a ‘rich guy’s game’ … probably more than ever.
