Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2014 - 38

(punch shots
)
MGANews
InsidetheMGA
Keep the Faith
By Tom Ryan
T
he game of golf isn't
going away. Golf has
had its ups and downs as
a business several times in
its history, and it's always
bounced back,
than before.
stronger
That's not
to say that changes aren't
necessary-they are. But
the changes that some talk
about as essential to the future
of the game need to be
analyzed in a larger context.
We should be thinking about the
changing demographics of golfers. As
baby boomers age, we need to consider
how their golf rounds will be replaced.
The generations coming after the boomers
are just entering prime earning years,
and are at the age at which most of our
members commit to golf clubs and
leagues.
We need to keep the pipeline full, attract
young people to the game and get
them engaged. Exposure though school
programs will find those kids who might
have caddied in the past. They are there,
we just have to go to them.
We do need to look at the aspects of the
game that can be modified to attract and
then keep the interest of both youth and
adults in a world of instant gratification
and fast-paced technology. Cost,
time
and accessibility are important issues to
discuss. But as we agonize over what to
do, let's not forget that even if we do a
great job of exposing young people to the
game, they will leave or cut back as they
get older. They will need to focus on their
families and careers, as their parents did.
But they will be back.
And it's not going to be 15-inch cups
or nonconforming equipment that brings
them back. It's the memories, the experience,
the friends.
It's the
walk in the park, the camaraderie
after the round,
the family activity. And, it's
the game. Don't forget the
game. It's the challenge, the
feeling of a well-struck shot,
the exhilaration of a holed
putt. The game is rooted in
tradition. Through every era
and generation playing conditions
and equipment have
changed and improved. But
through all the changes, the essence of the
game has remained the same.
John Gordon recently wrote in Canadian
Golf magazine about the cycles of
golf: " It will always be golf, despite these
recent dire predictions which, history
teaches us, are just updated regurgitations
of what has been said during golf's many
past, temporary declines. Those proposing
radicalization of the game, whatever
their motives, have as little chance of accomplishing
their goals as a sailor adrift
on the ocean has of affecting tides. "
Some who point to blemishes on today's
game as cover for fundamental imbalances
in the business are parading the
proverbial straw man. Slow play, courses
that are too difficult and too expensive
are not life threatening and do not require
" radical surgery. " They can be remedied
with care and attention.
" If you love the game you will take
personal responsibility for it. Adopt common
sense initiatives like Tee it Forward
and While We're Young. Foster a sense of
community at your course and invite a
kid or friend to play with you. Have faith
in the game and its future. " We would be
wise to take Gordon's advice.
See you on the course.
Updates on people, places
and events from the MGA
and its Allied Associations
Jim Lange, 1932-2014
Jim Lange, Minnesota's
first Evans
Scholar, passed away
February 25 in Mill
Valley,
Calif. Lange,
81, was best known
as the former host
of the popular TV show " The Dating
Game. " He grew up in St. Paul's
Frogtown neighborhood and caddied
at Midland Hills Country Club.
In
1950, he enrolled at the University of
Minnesota as the first member of the
Minnesota chapter of the Evans Scholars
program.
" I credit the Evans Scholar program
for everything that I have done, " Lange
told Joseph Oberle for a 2007 feature
in Minnesota Golfer magazine.
" I would never have gone to college. I
didn't have the money. The scholarship
certainly gave me the entree into higher
education... If it wasn't for the scholarship,
I don't know where I would be. I
am thankful every day for that. "
After graduating from the university
and serving a stint in the Marines,
Lange moved to San Francisco and
worked in radio. His television career
began as sidekick on the Tennessee
Ernie Ford show in 1962. Three years
later he landed the host job of " The
Dating Game. " His other game shows
included " $100,000 Name That Tune, "
" Bullseye " and " The All-New Newlywed
Game. " He returned to radio in
the 1980s, and later hosted a morning
program, The Lang Gang, on KABL in
San Francisco, before retiring in 2005.
Lange is survived
by his wife, Nancy, a
sister, five children,
two stepchildren and
four grandchildren.
36
MINNESOTAGOLFER Spring 2014
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Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2014

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