WHATS WRONG WITH GOLF? — The golf industry constantly frets about growing the game, when its problems are clear: golf is too hard, it takes too long, and its too expensive. Thats a deadly trifecta for any business. ... Imagine if every movie was in a foreign language without subtitles, lasted 5-1/2 hours and cost $36.50 ($51.50 with a cart). Nobody would go. ... I used to play a lot of golf, and really looked forward to playing, but that was because I became reasonably proficient, I had manageable free time and, most importantly, I almost always paid discounted greens fees (often at the bagel rate, or $0). I also worked in the industry for nearly 10 years and had friends and colleagues to play with regularly. When I got out of golf, the discounts vanished, so I played less. I had less frequent contact with friends, so I played less. As I played less, I played worse — I havent broken 80 for 18 holes on a championship course since November 2005 (God and Sarah-Jane Smith are my witnesses). Playing bad golf when it costs a lot, and takes forever, killed my desire to play. Good friends Jeff Rude and Alan Wilson Findlay would invite me to join them, often at attractive rates on nice courses, but Id wake up hoping wed get rained out. You see, Id rather just hang with Jeff and Alan — bon vivants of the first order — and other golf buddies to talk about golf, and wine, and movies, and life, than shell out $57.50 and spend 6 hours chopping it around in 97 blows. When theyd ask me to be the fourth, Id really rather be the fifth — I could walk around, tend the pins, breathe the air, rake the traps, take pictures, talk about the unique four-toed configuration of the ospreys foot — all at the bagel rate — and enjoy myself more than hacking it 94 times for $57.50 (cart mandatory). ... You know what killed golf in the USA? McDonalds. How? Guys like my Dad, Warren Carpenter, discovered they could hang out for a few hours with friends on Thursday mornings for $3.97, with free refills, and not have to organize a league, drive to the course, slog their way through nine holes in 52 swipes, hope to finish before dark, and then have the real fun over sandwiches and beers at Applebees afterward. Why not skip the golf and go straight to the fun part? ... The last time I thought about playing golf, I pulled my bag from a cabinet in the garage and discovered the plastic bottom had disintegrated. It just fell off, in chunks. (WTF, Izzo?) I put the clubs in a Rubbermaid garbage can and put it into the garage attic, where they have remained for more than a year — maybe two. I cant remember the last time I played, and really dont remember the last time I wanted to. ... Im the golf industrys worst nightmare. • Golfs overlords fret about the games decline. Can an alternative version fix it? on.wsj/1ccjoB2
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 14:17:30 +0000
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