The Experts’ Take, Episode 6: Inclusiveness in Golf

Four members of our all-star panel – Golf Channel/Sirius XM’s Michael Breed, Golfweek’s Geoff Shackelford, Golf Channel/PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com’s Charlie Rymer and pro golfer/social media personality Paige Spiranac – discuss how we can shift the social dynamic in the game to make more people feel welcome.

Geoff Shackelford:
That was something that we were discussing earlier, where golf courses are, too, in communities. Clubs, of course, in the United States we put up a fence, have a gate. Scotland, people go walk their dog on the course. Muirfield, the most exclusive snooty place, you can still go play. You pay, but you can still go play there. You can do the dress up thing at lunch and whatever, and go through that tradition.

We have all these golf course communities, and the golf course is separate from the housing development, and there’s a tension at all these places. It shouldn’t be that way at all. Golf is … Sends bad messages, for sure, to the outside world, which doesn’t help the game. I understand. The trick is there is an allure with golf to be part of something that has this great history, that has some traditions, and some rituals, and some class and some dignity that people do enjoy identifying with. We can’t throw those out either, but we have to kind of figure out which things are valuable and which have kind of run their course.

Paige Spiranac:
I think the best example I can think of is Bandon Dunes. It is a course that I think you feel welcome at, you have all different people playing there, but it still feels kind of exclusive in a way because of where it is. But you feel welcomed, and it’s cool. It’s kind of a cool place you want to go with your buddies. It’s a really fun course, but it feels like it’s open to everyone. I think what they’re doing on social media and kind of using that as a way to get more people involved … I know a lot of my friends don’t even play golf, but they’ve heard of Bandon. They think it’s a great trip for a bachelor party. I think that’s what you need to be doing more of.

Charlie Rymer:
You know what? We’re sort of picking at this game-

Michael Breed:
Don’t include me in that [crosstalk 00:02:00]

Charlie Rymer:
Right. Well, but [crosstalk 00:02:00].

Michael Breed:
You can go anywhere, but I’m not picking at the game.

Charlie Rymer:
But there’s some issues, no doubt about it.

Michael Breed:
Everything has issues.

Charlie Rymer (to Paige Spiranac):
But you’ve been made to feel uncomfortable a lot of places.

Paige Spiranac:
Yes.

Charlie Rymer:
But you still love the game and you play it again.

Paige Spiranac:
Mm-hmm.

Charlie Rymer:
It definitely has some issues, but I know for all of us sitting here what golf has done for us is incredible.

Michael Breed:
That’s why we’re sitting here.

Charlie Rymer:
The relationships that you make … When I look at the game, big picture, if it just did what it does for our military, our injured veterans, I’d be thrilled because that’s what it does. It helps our vets who need help more than anything else that it does all together, the game does. If you look into what it’s doing for kids, raising money for charity, there are a lot of great things going on with golf.

Bill Golden:
Right.

Michael Breed:
100 percent.

Charlie Rymer:
Sure, it might be flat and we’re all throwing out these, I’d say, criticisms. We’re doing it from a place of love. Even Geoff got some love.

Geoff Shackelford:
Yeah. No, we love it. We want to pass it on in good [crosstalk 00:03:03]

Charlie Rymer:
Yeah, we want it to be better.

Paige Spiranac:
We’ve all had, like you were saying, these amazing experiences. I think we want other people to share that.

Charlie Rymer:
Exactly.

Paige Spiranac:
The relationships that I’ve made, and the places I’ve traveled, and the courses I’ve played and the people I’ve met, it’s all because of golf. I wouldn’t be sitting here with these amazing people without golf in my life.

Charlie Rymer:
Yeah [crosstalk 00:03:22].

Paige Spiranac:
I want to share that with all these young women who would be like, “you could have doors just fly open for you if you just play golf.”

Charlie Rymer:
Yeah.

Paige Spiranac:
That’s as simple as it is. Or you can have these … We play golf not because we want to really get better. We play golf because of those nine whole afternoon rounds with our buddies, and we’re just having the best time ever and the experience that we’re having out on the golf course. I think we can talk about the rules, and instruction and everything all day long, but it’s a feeling that you get. That’s that feeling. We need to channel that feeling and that’s what we need to focus on, so other people who come in get that feeling. That’s what’s going to keep them coming back.

Michael Breed:
That goes to the question of instruction, right? In all the things that she said, it was not a feeling of, “I’m just getting better.” It’s all those places that she’s been, and the people that she’s been with and all that other stuff. You can have that without shooting 71.