Finding the future of golf isn’t going to be easy. There are many who are concerned the younger generation is embracing golf in far too few numbers. And there are many who are concerned current players are quitting the game in far too large numbers.
Then there’s the reality that more golf courses are closing than opening these days – a trend that’s been ongoing for the past several years. Industry experts call this “market correction” – the idea that the game grew too big during the “Tiger era” and is simply downsizing appropriately. Regardless, this still means less jobs in the industry.
And speaking about less jobs, what about the retail side of golf? It was a pretty ominous sign when in 2014 Dick’s Sporting Goods canned all of the PGA-certified pros it had working in its golf departments. In fact, Dick’s blamed the economy, less people playing, too many products flooding the market and a downward trend in their overall golf equipment sales.
All this pretty much sums up to one thing: The industry as we know it is getting smaller, not bigger. But does this mean golf is dying or simply changing?
I for one am fairly confident golf is changing – and changing for the better. We’ve seen many ideas tossed around recently on how to change the game for the better: Top Golf (nightlife driving range/game), Hack Golf (the people behind those giant golf holes), WRGA (relaxed rulebook for recreational players). All of these take-on the mission of getting more folks interested in golf.
One area of change that is starting to catch-on is booking tee-times online. Last year, we conducted a poll asking if tee-time sites might be actually hurting golf by undercutting prices too much. But the results showed more than half of you (53%) thought not. Only 36 percent were concerned, while 11 percent of you said the jury was still out.
I recently interviewed the co-founders of a growing golf tee-time site that basically is the kayak.com of golf – it brings together all the big golf tee-time sites (like GolfNow, etc.) and aggregates them in one place. The first of such websites in the golf industry, the duo (Jonathan Wride and Ryan Ewers of Supreme Golf) provided some very interesting statistics regarding online tee-times.
For example, 25 percent of golfers book tee-times online. Compared to the travel industry (where 65% of consumers book online) that may not seem like much. But by conducting their own research using data from both industries, Messrs. Wride and Ewers were able to determine golf is about where the travel industry was a dozen years ago in terms of online bookings. And golf is growing at a faster pace: Just last year the industry was 14 years behind (so online tee-time bookings are growing twice as fast as online travel bookings did during its infancy).
In fact, Mr. Wride is confident the market will continue to grow at a decent pace. He cited a recent Forbes article that shows Millennial participation is up on the successes of young new pros like Jordan Spieth. And this article, that shows these PGA young guns are credited with boosting golf’s TV ratings in 2015 – especially on CBS, which has suffered severe declines in recent years.
Interestingly, Supreme Golf’s founders say the majority of their current users are older than Millennials. This suggests the online tee-time market will grow exponentially as the younger generation coming into the game now is far more comfortable with doing things from their browser and/or phone app.
That is, of course, provided there are enough Millennials to replace all the Baby Boomers currently on the links. In this regard, perhaps the “market correction” I mentioned above is a good thing for golf after all. Not dying, just changing.
If we put all the pieces together, we might be getting a glimpse of what the future of golf will look like. Maybe gimmicky things like giant holes won’t really catch on, but there surely is a need to make the game easier and faster. To this end, new recreational golf rules and 12- or 14-hole golf courses just might catch the attention of a younger generation. Meanwhile, aggregated online tee-times sites like Supreme Golf already exist and will soon undoubtedly be the way the majority of golfers book times.
I’d venture to say the future of golf is already here. It might not be golf exactly as your grandfather or ever father knew it, but there will most definitely be golf.
Excellent commentary on the changing golf landscape. Indeed, the world has changed and is in many ways noticably much less formal. Golf is lost in its past and still run by those white supremacists known as the USGA who don’t have a clue how to attract new golfers.
Great piece. There has also been a lot of talk of golf needing the “snowboarding effect”, i.e. a similar sport that can be played on the same field at the same time. We’ve developed FlingGolf which allows that to happen-same golf course (no changes) same golf ball, even same foursome as golfers. It’s already making great revenue for courses and young players love it. We hope it grows to become the “snowboarding answer”.
I’m thinking the Uber or Airbnb of Golf is coming. Things will be disrupted, for better or for worse.
1) It’s the economy, stupid! Stop thinking the “official” unemployment rates are real… Try Googling U 5 & U 6 Unemployment numbers. No money, no clubbing. The middle class is shrinking.
2) It’s the economy, stupid! I should have known better when, while registering my oldest daughter at her 4-year high school… The Varsity girls team members were telling her “we have clubs, no greens fees, free driving range balls!” Uh, giving the free drugs to the neighborhood kids. Turns out the Varsity girls were all from affluent families and they were only partially right. The available left-handed clubs were for kids. Yikes! $150 for Dick’s Sporting Goods/Top Flite clubs. When my daughter was handed an Adams driver during one driving range session, she consistently gained over 25+ yards per tee shot. Those Adams clubs were more than twice as much. So, when my daughter can’t compete and get a crack at a scholarship but still has tons of homework… Well, you know where this is going.
3) We’re lucky, we live in Carlsbad (yes, THAT Carlsbad). We have a lot of 3-par courses around the area. Yeah, we have the big courses too, but that’s a few miles south of our home and we couldn’t afford those anyway.
4) All sports are suffering. All of these sports have gotten so specialized and expensive. It’s like a religious-cult and if you’re not a (insert name of sport here), you’re nothing! It’s no longer a “have fun and play ball” environment. It’s travel ball and specialized training, private coaches and regional tourneys. Could be filed under “It’s the economy, stupid!”
5) It’s been HOW LONG since Tiger burst onto the scene?
6) $7 for a small bucket of driving range balls? Sheesh.
7) The big box stores are closing their doors. Not undeservedly, mind you… When I can go to Costco and buy 3 Callaway Cabretta leather gloves for $16.99 and Sports Authority or Sports Chalet (both closing at the time of writing) charge $18 for one of the same glove, it’s time to shut those places down. No, their specialists didn’t know more than I and my daughter had only been playing for 8 weeks!
8) Idiots who try to sell used gear on Craigslist (etc.) for way too much… When I was able to work, I put in 20 years selling many million dollars in musical equipment. (Don’t worry, I got crap for commissions but loved it.) Golf gear, like guitars and amps, is a personal taste thing… Then there’s the neophyte who has a pretty set of Ram clubs and wants $200 for them even though they were on sale at Sports Authority for $129 just a couple weeks prior. I did find my right-handed daughter set of $40 Prince Tour SST clubs, but that was the exception. There’s piles of 1980s rust-infected clubs waiting to be bought for “$50” on the web. Wonder how many of those end up at the Salvation Army?
9) My kids wouldn’t be golfing if I were able to work. I am available to drive my kid and her teammates to practices and matches. The schools here do not provide transportation as the teachers take a lion’s share of the operating budgets making over $100k a year “teaching” while there are secretaries who make $70k a year and the custodial staff make even more than that. The unions have screwed the pooch in California and are no longer building character through a balanced experience for their students. The kids are also turning into big turds. That’s another story.
One saving grace is SCGA Junior golf. Our low-income status gave us a wonderful discount on the membership fees and driving range buckets are $2, greens fees are $5. A lot more workable for us and, while still an expense we could do without, we don’t have cable TV and pay $35 a month for four smartphones (Ting, ask me how!). Since we can’t afford college and the other sports, we’re hoping our kids can do well enough to get a scholarship based on their grades, perfect attendance (so far throughout school) and golf. What a scary ride it’s going to be.
This seems like the golf industry self-regulating. Honestly, the model of release cycles in the equipment industry seemed destined to fail and companies are closing.
As a leisure activity, golf has traditionally been out of line with other sports and this can’t carry on. The examples of space sharing with other sports are interesting.
It will also be interesting to see how initiatives like the larger holes as well as fewer holes work out.
the world has changed and is in many ways noticably much less formal
I think it’s always seemed to be it’s own sport without the need for a lot of outside attention like other major sports. But that’s also it’s weakness in the long term. I don’t golf much but my buddy has been playing like crazy since he really got into a few months ago.
Enjoyed reading about the research on bookings. I personally think that the game is in great shape, even with the announcement from Nike Golf today.
Golf has survived world wars, the depression, a recent recession, and consolidation. And the game is still standing.