A Very Little Something Back

I get a little frustrated sometimes, and more than a little worried, that golf is not growing.  In fact the number of serious core golfers is shrinking.  Women are adding to the numbers which is a good thing but overall the game has been stagnant for some time.

How will golf grow when the number of munis and public courses are shrinking, giving way to development mostly due to their desirable locations and financial drains on communities.  Get a couple non-golfers on the city council and it’s bulldozers.

Should the USGA, PGA, and PGA Tour be doing more? Yes.  The USGA should be building more courses or helping the weak survive so that people, mostly young people, have access to decent cheap golf.  The PGA should require its 25,000+ members to actively bring people to the game by offering more free lessons, clinics, and access to their courses and clubs.

Country club club committees, golf course owners, and city governments should offer programs where it’s about as expensive to play golf as it is to go to a movie…it’s the only way.

But on to the subject of the post…The First Tee Program.

First Tee is not a game growing pursuit in my humble opinion but rather a way to teach life lessons to underpriveledged kids using golf as a tool.  And what’s wrong with that?  Not a thing. 

Yesterday I volunteerd for a couple hours at our local chapter.  Twenty or so 7-9 year olds from the inner-city came and started right in yelling at me to go faster in the cart we were riding out ot the range…they didn’t want to be second…when I sped up they squealed.

Then the director gave them a few moments of instruction on setting goals in school and in life and how golf had goals too…mine’s usually holding the three wacks down to five or less.

It was cool to see these kids act out and have so much fun…and maybe one or two will actually play golf, which would be a huge bonus.  We need to give them cheap or better yet free places to play though but unfortunately we’re headed in the wrong direction.

Go here and send them 10 bucks…it means a lot…I’ll do it with you.