Have you ever wondered why the growth of golf is stagnant?  I’ve sat through countless presentations that make a good case for why the game of golf isn’t growing.  It takes too long.  It’s too difficult.  It’s positioned as an elitist sport.  It’s too expensive. I’ve even attended a seminar where they blamed the lack of growth in the game on the fact that minorities don’t enjoy the sport.

They make a good case, but when you truly think about it.  They’re just a bunch of excuses for a poor marketing effort by the entire golf industry.

People sit in stands for more than four hours watching a sport.  They binge watch on Netflix for more than four hours.  Heck, they even wait in line at Top Golf for more than an hour to get a stall. There are many things that people buy that are expensive, but they don’t gripe about it, like a good mattress, a high end car, good running shoes, quality dress pants.  Not to mention, have you looked at the price of refrigerators lately? They walk in with certain expectations which are then met – whether it be related to price or service.

Why is golf struggling then?

In my opinion, it’s struggling because of an industry wide lack of knowledge on how to properly market the sport. (more…)