It wasn’t long ago that you could show up to a course without a collared shirt and be sent home. You could be told that you couldn’t play if you didn’t have your own clubs. But the more I head out and play, the more I see golf courses relaxing their rules.
For example, the last time I took my kids golfing, we put all three of us in one cart. Three to a cart! About six or eight years ago that would be unheard of!
Further, my kids were sharing a set of clubs. Years ago, that would be another no-no. But this time, no one paid any attention whatsoever. Nor do I think they would care anyway.
See, as we all know, times have changed in golf. I’ve been to this particular course three times now and I have yet to see it even approach “busy.” So are they going to bust my stones over putting me and my kids in a cart? Of course not. Are they going to tell me that one of my kids can’t play because he doesn’t have his own set of clubs yet? Well then they run the risk of us walking out the door instead of making money from three greens fees and a cart rental. With golf business down year after year everywhere, what do you think they’re going to do?
Even ride-alongs have become acceptable. Years ago, if you weren’t playing, then you weren’t riding. But now…along with many other former “taboos,” golf courses are relaxing their rules in the interest of making money and keeping their doors open. And that’s something that I hope continues, even after participation in the sport begins to rise again. Actually, that is “if” it ever rises again.
These rules have long been a complaint for golfers, or, potential golfers. For instance, if you’re just getting into the game, you may not want to spend the money on a set of clubs without knowing whether you like the sport or not. This isn’t basketball where you can play at any local court for free, use anyone’s ball, or worst case, spend a few bucks for your own. This is golf, where every move you make is money out of your pocket. So how do you expect someone to just shell out all of that money just for the chance to play once? This is part of golf’s (hopefully) former pompous attitude.
As golf rounds continue to fall, relaxing the “rules” around the course a bit can only help – especially with Millennials. What we need is to attract more players, not shun them with silly rules. We want people to take-up the game, not have to shell out their hard-earned money just to see whether or not they want to pursue it. Sooner or later, if the courses don’t lighten up a bit…there won’t be any left to turn golfers away.
Swing ’til you’re happy!
