I feel bad for kids in our area who might have tried the game of golf, then lost interest. They find a club in the garage, they chip around in the yard, and shortly after… a parent or grandparent takes them to a course. While they might be interested in playing again, there will be others that say, “no thanks… now what?” Why have they lost interest?
If your thinking that I’m going to say they played bad and lost interest, you’d be wrong. I’m going to say something that’s somewhat horrible, yet arguably true. They were not inspired because the course is NOT interesting. We are programmed to think it’s a time issue, a score issue, a money issue; but what if it’s just a boring issue?
Tacos, Why You Lost Interest
If you just arrived on earth, and I wanted you to like tacos, it would be really smart that I take you to experience some of the area’s best tacos. When it comes to showing you golf, wouldn’t it be smart if you were taken to the most interesting places? Well, I can’t. Generally the private golf courses have the leg up on inspiring golf, and it might be best if I took you there. I won’t say that all private clubs in the area are inspiring, but many are better than the publics.
I can however… show you all the publics. Anyone can go to a public course, and that’s where golf usually begins. Sadly, we start golfers by taking them to the worst taco places. Then we putt out on 18 and ask them, “hey would you like to try some more taco places?”. Is it any surprise that some kids / new golfers might say, “no more tacos, now what?”.
It’s really too bad. Wouldn’t it be smart if the public courses, the place we start golfers; were actually the most interesting places? The places that stoked creativity, inspired strategy, presented options, had history, would be the kind of places that had new golfers begging for more. Of course, the whole thing is set up backwards.
This isn’t an article to hammer on other courses. It’s not designed to make the privates seem better. It’s not even designed to make RSPGL stand out as a more inspiring public (though it is). This is simply to get people thinking about what gets people hooked on golf. Sure, there are lots of scorecard and pencil people, but there are even more people who just love options and playing shots. Golf Course Owner Guy has not lost sight of that, and that’s why I pour my heart into making our course accessible to beginners, inspiring and fun. The future depends on it.
