Looking at some recent research results by NGF (National Golf Foundation) and paying attention to sports media or media in general, there has been a downward trend in golf participation as well as media coverage. I’m pretty sure anyone involved in or a fan of golf has probably noticed (especially with our own most recent posts, including the Dick’s layoffs and pondering if golf is a dying sport in general). The bottom line is golf is in a slump.
So the question is how do we get out of this slump? I’m pretty sure it’s cyclical just like everything else. I also believe it is a multi-faceted equation. The factors that make golf rise in popularity could be a young new superstar that sweeps the nation. It could be Hollywood lending a hand or perhaps even a political figure.
All of these factors do help but it also comes down to money. Has the game gotten too expensive to stink at it? Obviously as the popularity goes up so do the prices and vice versa. Considering golf seems to be in a lull at the moment. Now is the time to buy!
Checking online there are some amazing deals out there. Sites such as BigDgolf.com show some super deals. This is what golf needs. A good ol’ sale to kick-start the passion. Hey, if I got a super deal on some golf stuff, I’d want to use it ASAP. So, go get out there, find a deal, and hit the course!
Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!
Ted B. (Charging Rhino) says
I recently went looking for a new driver — perhaps one with a more flexible shaft since I am getting older and this Spring shifted from stiff-shafted graphite irons back to regular-flex steel Maxfli’s. How frustrating…
I have and use a pair of elderly Wilson bubble-shafted fairways that I like the feel of, but maybe need a higher ball-flight out of my Driver. My current Driver is a custom-made Maltby CER 10.5-deg. with a Grafalloy stiff graphite shaft, but I think it’s too-stiff now, and it just doesn’t launch high enough with today’s balls and my swing anymore. I’d like to replicate the Wilson fairways’ shafts, but with a higher launch. You would think I had a horn growing out of my forehead and a third eye for the puzzled and pained-looks of the sweater-sorters at the various stores I visited.
No, they couldn’t measure the flex or frequency of the Wilsons to match.
No, they had no way to compare the stiffness of one shaft versus another in the racks.
Yes, they knew that “flex” varies from shaft-model to shaft-model and mfr. — but they had no way to compare them — so what did “stiff”, regular” or even “senior” mean??
They tried to sell me some $600 Drivers that I could “adjust” for draw-and-fade — which I don’t need ’cause I have a nice straight-to-slight-draw now thank-you-very-much — but couldn’t tell me which shaft it should have to replicate my Wilsons.
And the GolfGalaxy 30-miles from my house is the only store with a simulator within an hour’s-plus drive — and no-one there seems to really understand the numbers it generates. Apparently it’s just there to impress (or intimidate) the casual golfing customers.