The Experts’ Take – Vol. 2, Ep. 5: Stimulating New Interest in the Game

What can we do, or what can be done, to generate more interest in the game among would-be, first-time golfers? Hear the thoughts of our all-star panel: Golf Channel/Sirius XM’s Michael Breed, renowned swing guru Hank Haney, Golfweek’s Geoff Shackelford, Golf Channel/PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com’s Charlie Rymer, pro golfer/social media personality Paige Spiranac and Golf Tourism Solutions’ Bill Golden.

 

 

Charlie Rymer:
Back with our all-star panel here in the “Golf Capital of the World,” Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Bill Golden, I want to start with you. You got some really strong feelings on the way data is viewed in the world of golf, and you really feel that we’re struggling a bit in particular attracting some younger folks to the game. Tell us a little bit about where you are with that.

Bill Golden:
Yeah, and I have firm opinions because I’m passionate about it. I have everything in my life because of the game of golf and I want to continue to see it succeed and prosper. I look at it from this standpoint: we have 75-80 golf courses here. So I’m looking at it from a golf course owner’s perspective. And the only stat that matters is how many people play golf. Tour ratings, people playing at Topgolf, people that would say they want to play golf or love golf … doesn’t matter, because they don’t pay the bills on the ground at a golf course.

When there are fewer golfers in the pipeline, equipment companies, ball companies, they can consolidate. We’ve seen it. The retail shops have consolidated. It’s hard to get golf courses to consolidate. So the infrastructure of golf is built on a higher number of golfers than we have now. And certainly higher numbers that we’re going to have five or 10 years from now if we don’t stimulate additional growth in the game of golf.

Charlie Rymer:
And that’s where I want to turn to the rest of the panel here. Stimulate additional growth. What does that mean to you, Michael? How do we do that? I mean one piece of advice for someone who’s coming out to a driving range or a golf course for the first time, what would that piece of advice be from you?

Michael Breed:
I would say, don’t listen to anybody standing next to you [joking crosstalk] because that’s not going to go in a good direction. I think there’s a lot of different ways to stimulate the game of golf, and I think one of it is just having a conversation about it. But what I always try to tell people is when you go out to do some errands, whatever, just bring a golf club. We all have extra golf clubs lying around. Go to your dry cleaner and just give them a golf club and go, “Hey, if you’re interested in the game, meet me over here. We’ll go out to Sterling Farms and I’m going to be out there. Whatever. I’ll watch you hit some balls.” There’s a lot of different ways that we can get people interested in the game of golf.

And I agree. I don’t think it’s ever a bad idea to promote the interest of the game of golf. I think it’s a healthy thing, and there are a lot of reasons why the game is an important part certainly of our lives. But I think there are a lot of reasons why the game of golf is good for you.

Charlie Rymer:
Paige, your piece of advice for a younger person, young adult headed out to a golf facility for the first time?

Paige Spiranac:
I think … don’t be intimidated to ask questions. I think that it can be very scary, especially for being a young woman because it is a very male-dominated industry. Don’t be scared to go ask questions, but ask your friends on places to go for your first time. Maybe don’t go to a private country club, maybe go to just a beat-up range and people usually are pretty nice there and laid back and they’re there to help you. So ask your friends who do play, maybe have them take you out and ask for good places to go that are more welcoming and more friendly.

Charlie Rymer:
I think Paige makes some amazing points right there, Hank. Because I know when I go to a golf course sometimes for the first time it is a little intimidating. There’s the backdrop. Who do you talk to? All these clubs have different procedures. It is a little bit intimidating. What are some of the things that maybe you would recommend to an operator that would make first-time golfers more comfortable?

Hank Haney:
Boy, I mean those are good points, Charlie, because I mean it is intimidating when you go to try and play the game. But the thing that’s most intimidating is trying to hit the golf ball. So it just gets me back to instruction. I mean, if you’re going to start off and you’re going to try golf for the first time, you have to get a good lesson. And there’s this perception that if you go sign up for lesson, that every lesson’s the same, and that’s just not necessarily the case. It’s just not the case.

The better the instruction you get, the better chance you have of enjoying the game, having an enjoyable experience the first time you play, and you’re going to continue on. I mean, all that stuff. Feeling uncomfortable and not knowing where to go, and everything else. But if you’re just out there hitting grounders, none of that other stuff matters.

Charlie Rymer:
It is a little like if you were going to ski for the first time, you wouldn’t go to the top of a mountain without getting a lesson.

Michael Breed:
School is intimidating. And that’s the thing that anytime you do anything for the first time, it’s intimidating. And I think it’s just a battle that everything has. Honestly, I do think, I agree with Paige. You’ve got to go to a place where you think you’re going to feel comfortable, whatever that may be. But you also have to be prepared for … this is a new experience. The problem is you’re a little bit older, whatever. It’s not like school. You don’t have to go. It’s a choice.

Charlie Rymer:
Yeah. And there really is a balance to it in talking, Geoff, about making the game easier for beginners, but making sure it’s still challenging for professionals. That’s a big issue in our game.

Geoff Shackelford:
Yeah. We don’t want to go down that route.

Charlie Rymer:
But it really is. It’s a tough balance.

Geoff Shackelford:
Yeah. It is a mess. I actually don’t agree that a good lesson the first time out is vital. I actually know some people who’ve surprised me that they were interested in golf and either they’ve gone with me to the range or they’ve gone to a range with somebody or gone out and watched as a spectator. And I think to get into the game it’s actually better to kind of do it that way and then realize, “Oh yeah, I do need a lesson. I’m not going to figure this out on my own.” But get over that first-time intimidation element with a friend, with somebody dragging you along. I mean, that’s how I learned the game, just going over with my dad and granddad. I was intrigued by the cart. [crosstalk 00:06:08]. But you’d be still-

Hank Haney:
Do you know how many at least go out there and hit that ball and like immediately go, “I’m never going to be able to do this.”

Geoff Shackelford:
But I still think that first time they go, if it’s comfortable with a friend and they laugh about it, and they know by the way, it is the most humiliating game in the world. Even for the best players in the world sometimes.

Michael Breed:
And it hurts, by the way. You go out there and you get blisters, whatever. If you don’t hold the club properly.

Geoff Shackelford:
Just kind of get over the first couple of times and then you’ll say, “Oh I’ve actually got to get more serious about this.”

Paige Spiranac:
I have a question. Do you think a bad lesson is better than no lessons? Because it is expensive. I think that’s a hard thing. To have a good instructor, it is expensive and I think a lot of people are like, “I don’t know if I want to invest this much money into something I’m not really sure about right away.”

Hank Haney:
A bad lesson at a beginner level though is never going to be that bad because you don’t know anything and it’s the basics, the hold on the club, standing, the grip. I mean, most anybody can get that. The problem is getting people to get the ball airborne. Our goal is always when we teach beginners, we want that ball … that ball is going to be airborne in this first lesson. They’re going to leave saying, “Boy, I hit the ball up in the air.” I mean, that’s going to happen. That’s number one.

Charlie Rymer:
But that first lesson doesn’t have to be a traditional one-on-one lesson. It can be a group lesson or Paige, it could be in particular young people looking at YouTube of Hank Haney or Michael Breed giving lessons. And a lot of younger folks learn that way and that’s-

Hank Haney:
There’s a lot of people you don’t get second chances with.

Geoff Shackelford:
I guess to Bill’s point where you look at the numbers, and most of the golfers have always been older. I think the one other thing we have to figure out is, to be a golfer it doesn’t mean if you just go the range and you go to the Topgolf occasionally and you maybe dabble in it. You’re golfer. And as you get older in life, you may get more drawn to it. We scare people off by making them think you’ve got to have a handicap, a full set of clubs, a membership, and this and that.

And there are a lot of ways to be a golfer, and we have to make sure we welcome people of all different kinds. Because a lot of people just don’t have the time. But maybe they like to go the range every once in a while, and then 10 years from now they stay connected to the game. Then they do the things that you talk about. They stay with the sport.

Charlie Rymer:
Well folks, we may not agree on how to get started, but everyone’s sitting on this panel agrees that you should get started in this wonderful game.