I enjoy golf. I like getting out on the course to play. I like hanging out with my golfing buddies. I like traveling around my home state (as well as the occasional golf trip) playing different courses. I never like playing the same course twice in a row. I like that none of us takes ourselves too seriously. We all want to do well (relatively speaking), but don’t really care all that much if we don’t. Just being out on the course, enjoying ourselves, having a good time with friends, is good enough.
I think this is the real part of the game that is lost on most of us golfers. Well…, I shouldn’t say “us” since the vast majority of golfers out there today are just like me and my buddies. I should say it’s lost on the golf industry in general. We’re not great. We understand we never will be great. We just don’t have the time to ever become great and don’t care if we ever do.
However, we love to get out and play no matter if we play well or not. So why is there so little in the golf industry catered to guys like me and my buddies? Why are all the featured courses the ones that are way out of my price range…especially in this economy? Why are so many aspects of the game aimed at the scratch and low handicapper? What about the rest of us? There needs to be a fix to this, and I have a good place to start – The Golf Channel.
It’s strange – as much as I enjoy golf, I almost never find myself watching The Golf Channel. I never really wondered why until just the past couple of days. But I’ve recently come to understand – There’s simply just nothing on there for me. I don’t care all that much about the tours. I’m even less interested in highlights from some European tournament from 2007. And I am so sick of hearing fifteen different pros give me fifteen different ways to improve my short game. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Which one works the best? WHO CARES!? It’s just confusing.
Combine that with the four to six hours worth of “paid programming” (i.e. infomercials) throughout the day, and I have virtually no reason to ever turn this channel on. I’m 99 percent sure that most weekend hacks like me feel the same. What this channel needs is a shot in the arm. A show that doesn’t take itself so damn serious. A show for all of us weekend warriors out there. A breath of fresh air. A break from the stale repetitiveness! Ladies and Gentlemen of The Golf Channel, I present my idea/pitch….Hacks vs. Tracks.
OK, so the title is just off the top of my head. We can work on that. But the general idea is to send me and the rest of my foursome (or…FOREsome) around the country to discover all of the hidden gems that never quite get the attention they deserve. Just four regular guys, NOT golf pros by any stretch of the imagination, who simply love to play the game. We’ll head to places that aren’t necessarily hotbeds for golf, but nonetheless have great courses that deserve some notoriety. We’ll hit some resorts as well as some munis. We’ll play there. We’ll eat there. We’ll sleep there. We’ll give an idea of what goes on other than golf in the area – tourist attractions, local sports, restaurants and such. But best of all, we’ll take our below-average games out to these courses, have some fun, give them some well-deserved attention, and hopefully spark some interest!
A show like this could open the eyes of a whole new group of golfers! Not to mention, drum up business for the courses and local businesses as well as the travel industry!
Consider this – I rarely watch the Travel Channel either. But I’ll turn on, and even DVR, a show like Man vs. Food. Why? Because it’s a fun show. Adam Richman (the host) is not a critic. He’s not stuffy. He comes across as just a regular guy who likes food. He’s not at the most expensive restaurants in the cities he travels to. He’s at the places with the good stuff. The stuff the locals know and love. The majority of the shows on Travel Channel don’t cater to the average person. Therefore, I have very little interest. But a show like Man vs. Food…I’m not going to miss a single episode! Since he’s come to my area, at least two of the three restaurants have been packed ever since (I have yet to visit the third). I have out-of-state friends and relatives asking me about those places. They want to hit those spots the next time they’re in town. And I want to do the same the next time I’m traveling!
This same mentality can be brought to golf. Open peoples’ eyes to some new, lesser known places, and it can only benefit everyone! Besides, I would have to imagine that a show like this would be a whole lot better than watching the latest “Get Ripped in 90 Days” infomercial!
Ladies and gentlemen of The Golf Channel….you can reach me at chris@golfstinks.com to further discuss what could only be a future success and the beginning of a wonderful relationship between your fine media outlet and 40 million hacks like me.
Thank you.
