I’m driving home from work the other day when, on the radio, comes something I’m just not used to hearing. No, I don’t mean a DJ to whom I can tolerate listening. I mean a commercial.

What’s unusual about a commercial on the radio you ask? Well, it wasn’t just any commercial. It was a commercial for a golf course. Actually, it was a commercial for multiple golf courses.

Maybe this doesn’t sound so strange to some of you. But me? I honestly can’t remember hearing a commercial on the radio for a golf course…ever! So why now? With the golf industry struggling, rounds declining every year and overall interest in the game sinking, is spending money on advertising the way to go? Are some courses looking to expand their clientele? Or for others, is it simply a last resort?

When you have a product to sell, and you want people to know about it, what do you do? You advertise your product. So why has it been different for golf courses? Why has radio advertising been a no-no in the past? But now, when they need people to come to the course, they are figuring out that it’s a good idea. I mean, golf has been on the decline for a decade now. But it took them that long to figure out advertising?

Even more strange I thought, but a good idea in my opinion, is where they are advertising. I heard these commercials on a hard rock radio station! Not an easy listening station. Not the oldies station. Not the adult contemporary station. Not the news station. Not even the classic rock station. But the modern/hard rock station!

Now I haven’t looked up the audience, but one would have to imagine most of the listeners of this particular station would be on the younger side. So are these golf courses killing two birds with one stone? Sure! By advertising here, they are reaching out via new media for them, as well as reaching out to a demographic that the game of golf needs.

It remains to be seen if this new form of advertising works for these courses. But whether it does or not, it’s good to see that the courses themselves are taking a hands-on approach to addressing the problems with the sport. Because we all know that it sure isn’t taking place at a higher level.

As the golf industry powers that be continue to market the game mostly to the scratch and low-handicappers, and consequently the industry continues to suffer, I feel these courses are taking the game in the right direction. They are doing what they can to get their name, as well as the sport itself, out there. And they are doing so in the direction of a new audience…a younger audience. And to that I say, good luck! This sport needs a new attitude and some new blood!

Swing ’til you’re happy!