Jack Nicklaus says 12 hole courses are the answer to bringing more people to golf.
No it’s not. Yes, it takes too long t play a round of golf – but that’s because too many people don’t play the correct set of tees and agonize over every shot like it’s the U.S. Open.
Ryan Ballengee at NBC has this excellent rejoinder to Nicklaus. From the article:
“While the suggestion is appreciated, golf already has a short form – the 9-hole round – and it has been the business of Jack Nicklaus (and others) to construct championship-style golf courses for developers who are dumb enough to believe that more than eight people in a year could play from the tips and have a good time on a 7100-yard course. In other words, Nicklaus has been part of the proliferation of courses which he says now intimidate golfers into not playing.
Nicklaus, then, should do something about it. Lopping off six holes of a golf course is not the solitary answer – not for amateurs and not by using the PGA Tour as an example.
As golf industry numbers suggest, participation in the sport continues to decline. The National Golf Federation reports the sport shed another 2.2% of its playing force in 2010, which further extends a trend of a decline in the golfing public since the height of participation around 2000.
Call it the Tiger Effect if you’d like, but the proliferation of real estate developments anchored by these behemoth and unsustainable tracks….Encourage kids to take up the game with hyper-cheap equipment. Niche companies exist already to provide that, like US Kids Golf, but none have reached the scale of the major manufacturers. Making available cheap equipment kind of flies in the face of the $400 driver.”
That’s why Ryan went from blogger with a laptop and a dream to the PGA Tour. Fight on, Ryan.
You can meet Ryan at me event in D.C. on 6/13. Contact me for details!
