The Pellucid Perspective - November 2013 - (Page 17)

THE LAST WORD Pace of play campaigns missing the point T he Golf Channel and the network Tour telecasts shower us with semihumorous vignettes about it. The golf industry chat rooms are full of it (in more ways than one). Local, regional and state golf associations and their magazine mouthpieces remind us about it in every publication issue. Some golf courses are even doing something about it, or attempting to. The suddenly ever-present "it" is pace of play, or the lack thereof. The USGA is behind the "While We're Young" spots, dredging up icons like Arnold Palmer, Clint Eastwood and Annika Sorenstam to be the venerable faces of the campaign. Guess Jack Nicklaus must have been too busy, although as I recall Jack's excruciating pace in his prime, perhaps he wouldn't have been the best spokesperson. While it is nice that the USGA finally applied some of its effort - and vast stockpiles of money - to attempting to make the game more enjoyable rather than less, to my thinking they have typically missed the point. When thousands of survey respondents say they don't play golf, or don't play more often, due to the time it takes, I am reasonably certain that in most cases, they're talking about the time that even a brisk 18 takes to play, not whether the round takes 4 hours or 4 and a half. Time will tell (pun intended) whether I'm right about that or not, but meanwhile, courses across the land are taking action on the premise that less time is more money for them in the form of tee times and greens fees. A course near my house now includes the advisory/warning that they have a pace of play program when customers call for a tee time. The email confirmation spells that policy out further: 4 hours for times before 8AM, 4:15 for times between 8 and 9AM, and 4:30 for times after 9AM. I'm sure that countless course marshals around the country, most of whom probably thought they were through with company staff meetings forever, have been called in for briefings on the new commitment to faster play, and the role they will be asked to play in encouraging or enforcing it. One of the potential flaws in most pace www.PellucidCorp.com of play improvement programs is that in the end, the success or failure of the strategy is going to come down to a marshal's ability to diplomatically but firmly keep play moving along at the desired pace. There may be one somewhere, but I'm not aware of any study that proves that pace of play has slowed universally over the decades. Whatever the industry-wide average pace of play for 18 holes is, I'm willing to wager that if the records existed, they would show that it's relatively Personally, I don't think golf is capable of reversing the attitudinal mindset of the Gen X, Y and Millenials groups in terms of how they regard golf. On the other hand, some forward thinkers in the industry are beginning to realize that if you can get the kids involved, mom and dad may follow. the same as it was 50 years ago, and at most every benchmark since then. There are dozens of nits that could be picked, on both sides of the argument. Courses are longer today; but the ball goes farther. Most people ride carts; yes, but does that make them play faster? Green speeds are up, leading to more 3-putts; yes, but maintenance is at a much higher level, and putts roll truer. Equipment is better, theoretically making the game easier, and thus (again theoretically) faster; yes, but that equipment is still wielded by humans, and the USGA is ever-vigilant to make sure that the equipment doesn't help those less skilled humans too much. If we assume that today's average pace of play is roughly the same as it's been throughout the years, yet survey respondents cite "time" as their biggest impediment to playing, or playing more, then maybe it's not the game, but the mindset of its customers and potential customers that is most in need of change. Unfortunately for golf, shifts in generational thinking and lifestyles are much harder to correct than that laggard foursome who are clogging up your course. If golf 's next generation or two of potential customers can't be convinced somehow that some portion of their time, whether it's a couple of hours for nine holes or 4-whatever for 18, is as well spent on golf as attending each and every one of their kids' athletic or social events, working overtime, updating their Facebook page or playing video games, the downward spiral of golf participation will continue. Personally, I don't think golf is capable of reversing the attitudinal mindset of the Gen X, Y and Millenials groups in terms of how they regard golf. On the other hand, some forward thinkers in the industry are beginning to realize that if you can get the kids involved, mom and dad may follow. That is a 180 from the traditional golf thinking that if the parents play, the kids will too when they're old enough. I see more and more courses incorporating things like "kids play free" when they're accompanied by paying adults, or free or nearly free juniors clinics. If Mom and Dad will schlep the kids to Little League, soccer, dance class, piano lessons or cheerleading practice, they'll damn sure run them over to the golf course. And who knows, maybe they'll drag their own dusty clubs along and hit some balls or sneak in a quick 9 while the kids are busy. And if the kids' instructor is good, and can show them that hitting the occasional good shot is fun, and they're actually going to get out on a real golf course from time to time, maybe golf all of a sudden becomes a good way to spend quality family time, whether it's 2 hours or 4. -Jim Dunlap The Pellucid PersPecTive 17 http://WWW.PELLUCIDCORP.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - November 2013

TOC
A silver lining in 2013: Golf's largest markets figure out how to beat the weather
What's wrong with this picture?
USGA approval of OnCore hollow core ball technology an interesting development
A new determinant on "weather" golfers play or not?
Golf's interests protected in TopGolf lease agreement
October golf weather impact: 4th consecutive month in positive territory
Orlando: Courses in golf's meeting mecca surviving
Edwin Watts Golf Shopes files for bankruptcy, Watts family hoping to regain control
Pace of play campaigns missing the point

The Pellucid Perspective - November 2013