The future of golf?
At the Fish River Sun Golf Club we found this sign:
On our way from Kirkwood to East London – that is from the inland to the south-east coast, we took the time to visit the Fish River Sun Golf Club. We didn’t play the course. Apparently once some 8-10 years ago a great golfing, hotel and casino complex now struggling to survive.
If you have a full breakfast, the green fee for 18 holes are included. A huge contrast to the green fee at Pinnacle Point.
As we have learned many resorts and clubs in the southern part of SA are slowly loosing members. Even the East London Golf Club with a fantastic golf course, which many times have hosted the South African Open, and great facilities for members and guests, are slowly having a decline in memberships. Some few years ago they were 1150 members and now they are down to about 750.
That also made me think about the big difference in the green fee between Pinnacle Point and East London, and the difference in popularity among green fee players.
One cannot stop thinking why.
According to the National Golf Foundation, a high of 30.6 million golfers in the USA in 2003 had reduced to 24.7 million by 2014. The number of golfers between the ages 18 and 34 has declined by 30 percent over the past 20 years. As of 2017, the number of golf participants in the USA stood at approximately 23.83 million. Sorry I haven’t yet found numbers for other countries. I know that such statistics exist – I will find it.
The question is; is golf a dying game?
Yes, in according to MICHAEL BAUGHMAN who published an article in April 2017, “Golf’s core audience is literally dying, and it’s affecting golf far beyond its television broadcasts.”
Though the USA still accounts for more than 40% of the world’s golf courses, according to the National Golf Foundation (NGF), the country (USA) has lost nearly 800 courses in the past decade.
Baughman continues: “One of the reasons for this change had been explained succinctly in Forbes Magazine: People simply can’t afford to play golf anymore. I find that easy to believe. In 1958, a friend named Bob and I, both of us college students, reserved a tee time and paid $8 apiece to play 18 holes at the famed Pebble Beach course on the Monterey Peninsula. We talked about natural beauty during our round and agreed that the land, sea and sky we saw that day would have been far more beautiful without the intrusion of the golf course we played on. For a similar tee time today, however, Bob and I would be required to stay a minimum of two nights at the Pebble Beach Lodge or an affiliated property, and the 18 holes would cost us a minimum of $1,835 apiece, carts and caddies not included.”
You and I may not sympathize or agree with Baughman. But this next quote I tend to agree with: “Mark Twain may or may not have said (the quotation’s origins remain murky): “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” But even that isn’t true anymore, because very few golfers still walk. Most climb in and out of motorized carts whose costs aren’t included in Pebble Beach’s exorbitant greens fees. The only virtue the game ever had — moderate exercise — is gone forever.”
Wish you a good day and may your next round of golf be a great walking round.
Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcome.
