Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2011 - 29

You have to accept that golf is no longer the elitist game of your
great-grandfather's time when a six-year-old Michigan girl shot a
hole-in-one on a regulation course last summer.
Okay, it wasn't really like that.
The description of the course is accurate,
but club members and staff were very welcoming.
I admit that I exaggerated my preconceived
notions. I did need a haircut, but
I was more anxious and excited about playing
the incredible Donald Ross course that
was built before the turn of the last century.
And after I struck my fi rst drive-suddenly,
it was just golf-any fears of not belonging
evaporated with the morning dew.
But that doesn't mean that such a perception
about golf doesn't exist. Tom Skoglund,
the director of golf at WBYC, admits
as much. Golf's reputation as an elitist,
exclusionary sport has been well-earned
since the origins of the game-but it is just
one of many misconceptions about golf in
general that have hindered the growth of
the game over the years, and, frankly, really
don't hold up that well.
" Golf has become a very affordable
sport, " Peter Dawson, the chief executive
at Royal and Ancient (and the fi rst president
of the International Golf Federation)
told the International Olympic Committee
in 2009, when golf was approved for
competition in the 2016 Olympic Games.
" In the United States, 72 percent of courses
are public facilities and 56 percent of players
have a household income of $25,000 to
$100,000. That is hardly elitist. "
Still, the perception of barriers remains:
Golf is elitist, too expensive, too diffi cult,
too time-consuming and just for old, rich,
white guys.
In fact, if you really take a look at the
game, golf has done more over the past decades
and in recent years to make it a game
for everyone. And anyone who wants to
play the game can fi nd the time, money, access
and place where they feel comfortable
in their ability to play it.
" People who know golf are not affected
by [those misperceptions], "
says Doug
Hoffmann, MGA tournament director.
" But what we are fi ghting is the uninformed
90%
of courses in
Minnesota
are public
facilities
www.mngolf.org
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Directory 2011 MINNESOTAGOLFER
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public regarding what golf is about. Certainly
when you say golf to the average person,
they aren't going to think of Hiawatha
and Meadowbrook and those courses. They
are thinking of Interlachen or Minikahda
or expensive private courses. I don't know
that the public side of golf is promoted as
much as that is. "
But you have to accept that golf is no
longer the elitist game of your great-grandfather's
time when a six-year-old Michigan
girl shot a hole-in-one on a regulation
course last summer. You have to recognize
that the game has changed when the most
successful golfer of this generation is of
African-American and Asian descent. And
you have to appreciate that the reigning
" champion golfer of the year " is the very
popular Northern Ireland-born Darren
Clarke-a self-proclaimed regular guy who
has been dubbed the sport's " everyman " by
the world's media.
Flexible and Forward Looking
Golf, by its very nature, is meant to be
played and enjoyed by everyone. As an individual
sport it has always been accepted
that players of different abilities compete.
While there are certainly 18-hole private
championship courses to play (if you have
the ability and fi nancial wherewithal to do
so), there are also many municipal courses
to play at a great price. There are nine-hole
courses, executive courses and par-3 courses
that are perfect for players just learning the
game or for playing at a more leisurely pace.
There are many mid- to higher-end dailyfee
courses built when the sport boomed
in the 1980s that were designed with every
level of player in mind-which means that
they include multiple sets of tees.
Skoglund-a Forest Lake
native who
worked setting up the annual PGA Tour
event at Doral and then in Michigan before
returning to Minnesota and the WBYC-
has seen the game from every level and
The mentoring program teaches
more golf skills than just swing
mechanics.
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Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2011

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