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2 Oct 2011 Corina Pelloni

If 12 holes becomes the new 18, then it’s time to bifurcate the rules

Several people in golf are calling for golf to become a 12 hole option to adapt to changing lifestyles. Jack Nicklaus is one. He recently conducted a 12 hole event at his course in Columbus which included a larger diameter cup. As a traditionalist the idea goes against my nature but I am also a realist and making the game more friendly for the average Dick and Jane is not a bad idea. Let’s be honest, the professional game now is so far removed from what everyone else plays that the time for a bifurcated rule book has come. People should be able to play golf any way they like. Serious players are always going to play by the USGA rules. Most people however, just want to escape the office or enjoy some time with friends or family. They could care less about stroke and distance or penalties for grounding a club in the sand or hazard.

For centuries golf has insisted that playing by the rules is absolute, labeling anyone that doesn’t as slackers or cheaters. Someone, who should be drummed out of the game. Well in tournament play, absolutely. But less than 2% of golfers play for a living or in serious events. Why not let everyone else have fun? Golf has spent to much time catering to the small percentage of good players. In present times, that will be a dead end road. It is time to start paying attention to today’s society. We have raised a generation of people who want instant gratification. Most no longer have the patience required for becoming good golfers. I wish this was not the case, but the reality is we need a rule book that says, for tournament play, follow these 34 regulations. For recreation, play any way you want.

A Fresh Look At Marketing Golf Competitions

By Mark Harman Back in the 1980s when I still lived inNorthern Indiana, I can remember that the South Bend Metro Golf Championship made a big announcement that the tournament was so popular that it had to limit the number of participants to 300. Last year, just 104 played. Also inIndiana, I used to play in the Monticello Open, which had a long and storied history. They have pictures on the wall at Tippecanoe Country Club from the 1950s showing dozens of spectators viewing the action. Even a few touring professionals would tee it up. The last time I played in the event several years ago (it no longer welcomed all comers after that year), it was poorly run and only lasted one round. I recently played in the Valdosta Open inGeorgiaat the Valdosta Country Club, a very fine facility. Only 38 players showed up, and when I first started playing back in the 1990s it was common to see 70+ players. In the 1990s inPensacola,Florida, the Gulf Coast Scratch Tour for amateurs had to cap participation at 120 players. Today they get 30-40 players per event. What in the world has happened to tournament golf? Nationwide, tournament participation is generally down from what it was 30, 20, and even 10 years ago. Is there any way to revive it? Frankly, I don’t have any good answers to what happened. I really don’t know. I don’t think the economy has anything to do with it, because tournament participation has been on a downward trend for more than a decade. What I do know is that ourUSand World Golf Teachers Cup events are not suffering from this malaise. Perhaps it’s the fact that we sell more than just a tournament – we sell an experience. We use this word a lot, but the camaraderie at these championships is second to none. People really enjoy renewing old friendships and making new ones, and I’m sure a lot of networking goes on, too. We also tend to play our events in family-friendly tourist venues, which also doesn’t hurt. So maybe these other events need to take a lesson – a tournament lesson – from us. Offer an experience, more so than just a golf tournament, and they might see some old faces they haven’t seen in awhile…and undoubtedly some new ones.

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