Enjoyment the Key for Retaining New Golfers

October 10, 2012 | By Greg D'Andrea | Leave a Comment

000_00103 — Stinky Golfers Pete (L) and Chris enjoying themselves on the course. (Photo by Greg D’Andrea)

It may sound obvious: That in order to turn beginning golfers into lifetime golfers, they should enjoy themselves. But how often does that really happen? Think about it – the very fundamentals of golf can be extremely frustrating – especially to a golf newbie.

Take the golf swing for instance. Have you ever tried teaching someone how to swing a club? You’re at the driving range with someone who has never played – you show them the basics (grip, stance and swing), hand them the club and let them have at it. That can be pretty frustrating to both the golf newbie and to you.

Stinky Golfer Chris summed it up the best when he wrote in a post:

“Handing [my wife] a club was like handing a cell phone to my grandmother. Some things are better left in the hands of others…[Have] you ever see a baby just learning how to walk? It’s walking into things and falling down and you can’t help but to laugh. Picture that baby with a golf club in one hand, completely throwing off it’s balance even further, and a glass of Jack Daniels in the other. It was like that. But less graceful.“

What about golf etiquette? Remember going out to the course with a first timer? “Don’t step there; You can’t put your bag there; It’s not your turn yet; You can’t touch it until the green; Let this other group play through.” It’s (what must seem to them) an endless list of don’ts and can’ts.

And what about slow play? A new golfer will inevitably be slow – they are still learning how to get the ball in the air; still learning the rules; still learning the etiquette; but yet they are constantly being pushed through the course – golf newbie or not, no one forgives slow play.

I haven’t even mentioned the cost factor (equipment, apparel, greens fees) yet! It’s no wonder there are so many people out there that claim: “I tried golf, but it just wasn’t for me.”

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Sure, golf isn’t for everybody, but I believe we can retain more golfers if the introduction to the game wasn’t so abrasive. Perhaps most importantly if you have a friend that wants to try golf, the best gift to give them is a lesson from a pro. Yes, you pay for the lesson – whenever something is free, people tend to appreciate it more.

And don’t stop there – the second most important thing is to make the game enjoyable. This means point out the rules and etiquette of the game but don’t always enforce them. In fact, their entire first season playing should be very informal. And prepare them upfront that as a newbie, it’s OK to pick up and move on sometimes.

Some other ideas: Allow Mulligans (multiple Mulligans if necessary); Tell them 95% of golfers can’t shoot anywhere near par so they should just have fun; Get them hand-me-down clubs; Don’t just talk golf – catch up on things in general – let them see the camaraderie this game offers.

So the next time you have an opportunity to introduce someone to golf, do right by them – make it an enjoyable experience and you might just end up with a golfing buddy for life.

Number 5

5 Reasons Why They Hate Golf – Some people just don’t like golf – it’s sad but true. In 2011, we tried to explain why anyone could possibly hate this great game!

Number 4

Is USGA Membership Worth It? – After years of trashing his annual membership form, Stinky Golfer Greg explained why 2010 was the year he finally joined the USGA!

Number 3

Custom Fitting Golf Clubs: Worth It? – In June of 2010, Stinky Golfer Chris went to get custom fit for new clubs. In this candid post (and his follow-up posts), he explains if it was all worth it.

Number 2

10 Golf Etiquette Rules Most Jackasses Ignore – In this April 2011 post, Stinky Golfer Greg lists his biggest golfer pet peeves in a no-holds-barred rant about cell-phone use; playing from the wrong tee-box; and giving unwanted swing advice.

Number 1

Male-Only Golf Clubs; Sexist Bastards or Constitutional Right? – We opened up a can of worms with this post from 2009 on the rights of private golf clubs vs. the sentiments of the 21st-century.

Screaming on the Golf Course

June 6, 2012 | By Greg D'Andrea | Leave a Comment

Are you a fairway screamer? — Are you a golf course screamer?

I got an email from an old college buddy recently, let’s call him Stinky Golfer Smith, to say he was going to be in my area and wanted to drop by.

Anyway, thinking of Smith always reminds me of Monica Seles (you know – the tennis player) because she always used to put audible emotion into her swing whenever she hit the ball.

Well, Smith was no different when golfing – see video below. (CAUTION: Check your speaker volume first)!

For a game in which players are supposed to remain relatively quiet, it sure can get noisy out there. For example, one of the co-founder here at GolfStinks (Stinky Golfer Tom) really let’s you know it when an errant shot is headed your way.

Tom’s blood-curdling “FORE!” can be heard throughout the course – seriously, people on every hole are ducking for cover. And if you’re on the tee with him, you better cover your ears or risk damaging your ear drum.

But yelling “fore” is not only acceptable, it’s considered poor course etiquette if you don’t. I suppose missing a 2-foot putt because you were distracted by someone yelling fore is better than missing the next few rounds after taking one off the noggin.

But what about other yelling and screaming on the course? Racking your brain to think of any? How about this:

“Hey, Bob! What’s the distance from there!?”

“Mary! What club did you use!?”

“Wow, Jim! You really hit the [bleep] out of that one!”

“Don’t worry, Jane! I saw where it landed!”

We scream these and other similar phases across the fairways at each other all the time (and in case you’re wondering, this is indeed poor etiquette – and, asking what club your playing partner used is even illegal).

If I blow a 2-foot putt because some fool is in the fairway behind me screaming to his foursome that he found his first drive, I’d be kinda upset. Come to think of it, the video above is a blatant display of poor etiquette. Funny? Yes. Poor etiquette? Absolutely.

So consider this post the next time you have the urge to scream across the fairway. And try not to be Monica Seles when teeing off…except maybe when it’s the last hole and money is on the line, because it seems to be rather effective (I didn’t forget, Smith – I still owe you a beer).

Why Does Golf Need Tee It Forward?

April 2, 2012 | By Chris Chirico | 6 Comments

wet and rainy golf — Will Tee It Forward help put folks on the right tee box? (*Photo by Greg D’Andrea*)

So I’ve been doing a little reading up on this Tee It Forward thing and I’ve gotta tell ya…I wanted so bad to rip it apart. All that would cross my mind was what pansies we were making out of people. “Ooooh, the game’s too haaaard…I’m not having any fuuuunnnn…., waaaaa…., waaa….., waaaaa.”

Really, think about it. What other sport gives you the option to make the game easier? If basketball is too hard, do they lower the hoop for you? If baseball is too hard, do they pitch slower? Of course not! But in golf, they tell people to just move up and play closer.

Aren’t there enough technological advances in golf designed to make the game easier already? Specialized balls that are designed to travel straighter or farther. Drivers with heads the size of a small SUV. Clubs that make the ball do things that scientists years ago would have considered to be physically impossible. But none of that is enough? Now we tell people…”Just move up.”

See, it all sounds so silly doesn’t it? But I thought about it a little further and realized, maybe this is necessary. It shouldn’t be…but maybe it is. What I’m saying is, why aren’t people playing from the correct tees to begin with? Who taught them the game? I feel that you should be able to play from whatever tees you choose, but at the same time, it’s a matter of etiquette as well. And as we all know, etiquette is just as much a part of the game as the act of golf itself. And I think that’s where Tee It Forward should really come into play.

I may be wrong, and I’m sure many people will argue against my way of thinking, but something in the back of my mind tells me that Tee It Forward was designed with its initial intended purpose to be teaching etiquette and speeding up the game, not trying to get people to have more fun. But with today’s younger generation, it’s hard to teach golf etiquette to newcomers without sounding like a pompous ass. So instead, they put the “fun” twist on it to make the game sound less stuffy. Now, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. As a matter of fact, it’s quite smart. Look, my opinion is if you want to play from the blues then play from the blues, whether you belong there or not. I could care less. But if what you’re doing is holding people up because you stink at golf and you’re only making a hard game that much harder, then you need someone to tell you to tee it forward due to etiquette.

See, the “fun” approach that Tee It Forward takes, in my opinion, is the correct approach that should be taken. It’s the reason I play. At the end of the day, I don’t really care what the number is on my scorecard. I care that I had fun out on the course with my friends. I try to play well obviously, but if I don’t, who gives a crap? It’s not my job. I don’t get paid for it. I’m not a pro, not trying to be a pro and understand that I never will be a pro. But I am trying to have fun, and I’m doing exactly that.

Tee It Forward is a step in the right direction. The more organizations that can stress the fun aspect of the game, the better. If they can subconsciously teach a little etiquette as well, then they’re really onto something.

My only wish is that, at some point, people will just come out and say that golf (or any sport for that matter) is a tough game. And rather than put together initiatives and such to make the game easier or more fun, someone will just simply say either “Hey, maybe this game isn’t for you,” or better yet, “Just go have fun.”

Swing ’til you’re happy!

Another Future Golfer’s First Time On The Course

September 5, 2011 | By Chris Chirico | 1 Comment

So, how many of you have ever been out on the course with someone who simply wasn’t ready to be out there? I’m sure most of us have been in that position before, right? I would think that, out on the course, there couldn’t be anything more annoying than to play, or.., try to play with someone who has almost no idea what they are doing.

No shot is a good one, they play too slow, they don’t know any of the rules of etiquette…just awful! Why would anyone subject themselves to this? Any golfer would just be miserable. But not me. Not this time. This time we’re playing slow for a reason.

Last year I posted about taking my oldest kid out on the course for the first time. Well this past weekend, it was time for my second oldest to get out there. And I admit, I didn’t believe he was quite ready to be out there yet. He hadn’t been to the range enough, hasn’t really started to develop a decent swing and pretty much, all-around, had no game. But he wanted to play, and that’s good enough for me. I mean, he has to start somewhere sometime, right?

So I suggested we go in the mid-afternoon since I knew we’d be moving slowly and traffic on the course would be at a minimum. We went to the same 9-hole executive course which I took my oldest last year. We lined up on the first tee and wouldn’t you know who hit the best ball? Yup, you guessed it…the new guy.

But it wasn’t all gravy all the way. We took took a good 30 minutes to play the first hole. Luckily, there was no one behind us all day! So after looking at my watch a few times, a few lessons on the rules of etiquette quickly ensued.

But at the end of the day, the final numbers didn’t look so bad! Obviously, I took it easy on him and didn’t hammer him for a stroke on every drop, mishit or silly mistake. But even taking that into account…it was much better than expected! And with a little more practice, I’m sure it will improve even more next time.

So despite taking way too long to play nine holes, the day was great all around. I got another kid out to the course, interested in the game and wanting to give it another shot. With school starting this week, I’m sure our time this year will be cut short. But that leaves us an entire off-season upcoming to work on the fundamentals. And I figure with enough practice, I’ll soon be worrying about another kid who is soon to be a better golfer than me!

Swing ’til you’re happy!