More flavors of golf
Golf is having a resurgence, but in a way that I think is better for the sport. Why? Changes in the golf culture and new entry points (e.g. Topgolf). People aren’t just adopting the game, they’re adopting the game to varying degrees in a way that suits them individually.
In the Atlanta metro area we have three Topgolf locations. Last week I went to one location at 6:30 on a Wednesday night… and they we booked for the evening. Our backup? Puttshack… which, as we found out moments after arriving, was also booked for the evening.
People are finding new, easier, and more fun ways to enjoy or become introduced to golf. Which brings me to this recent piece from The New York Times. I love it.
Like all uprisings, the sport’s mini-rebellion had a birthplace: Northern Virginia, where a golf entertainment company named Topgolf made its American debut in 2005. It has since swelled to 64 locations, the majority in or near urban areas. Topgolf facilities, which average more than 20 million customers annually, have the feel of a 1950s-style bowling alley set in a 21st century science fiction film.
I used to really, really love golf.
We had a public course (R.I.P. Twin Lakes) five minutes from our house in Jasper, Alabama. At 13-years-old I could be dropped off and play 18 holes, snack and drinks included, for less than $10.
It was far from a perfect course, but it was a good enough for the average player. Since the course was busy daily, the rates stayed low and the course stayed in business.
“Offering more flavors of golf is tapping into evolutional demands...”
Twin Lakes closed a few year back, much like many courses across the US; more than 800 courses closed from 2009-2019.
I want to get back into golf, and there are two things pulling me back in as of late:
The fun and accessibility of Topgolf. (We had a no-frills driving range nearby in Seattle and it was heaven to have a beer and knock a bucket of balls.)
Though I don’t follow the professional tour closely, the recent ruckus between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau. I find it incredibly amusing. Sports characters make sports more exciting.
The article covers more about the rise in golf better than I ever could. My notes and highlights below.
Drinking a Reissdorf Kölsch and watching US-Haiti in the Gold Cup.
Notes & Highlights
And new golf just might save old golf from itself.
The number of devoted recreational golfers in the United States has hovered at about 25 million, but the cohort is aging and more than 1,600 American golf courses closed in the 2010s.
…three successive years of participation growth that has reshaped the demographics of junior recreational golfers, who are now twice as likely to be female and four times as likely not to be white.
…75 percent of the rounds are played on public golf courses.
Note: This is actually a shocking stat to me? Feels like it would be 50/50.
Laughter, not the imposing silence at a typical golf tee, is the prevalent soundtrack.
Note: It’s like modern day Happy Gilmore, or something.
“Topgolf took the friction out of the entry to golf and made it easy for people to satisfy their interest in the game without making a big investment,” said David Pillsbury, chief executive of ClubCorp, which owns or operates more than 200 golf clubs.
Note: ClubCorp was a partner of ours at Plastiq.
At Quicksands, a par-3 course positioned atop a stretch of sand dunes in Central Washington, the music of Metallica emanating from widely scattered speakers hints that a round will not follow tradition.
“Led by younger generations, golf is refocusing. They crave compelling golf, and old assumptions about location, length and the configuration of the golf holes no longer apply.”
About 34 percent of junior golfers are now girls, compared with only 15 percent in 2000.
According to data compiled last year by the National Golf Foundation, more than 25 percent of junior golfers are nonwhite, whereas just 6 percent of young golfers 21 years ago were.