It’s Time to Start Listening

Golf is one of the few businesses these days that collectively doesn’t carry out a regular dialogue with the people who use its product.

The reason for that may stretch back decades to a time when golf was primarily a country club game with relatively few places to play, so supply and demand was definitely tilted in favour of supply, or the golf facilities.

That started to change as an evolution took place, particularly in the late ‘80s and the ‘90s, with the proliferation of public golf courses, particularly the high end type, and people/companies looking to get in on an explosion in the popularity of the game.

The days of build it and they will come were over as different markets, particularly Toronto and surrounding area, became saturated with golf courses and weighed supply and demand in favour of demand, or the consumer.

Many of those public golfers out on the fairways and greens had different priorities, issues and concerns than the country club types who once dominated the game.

They were large in number, but small in influence on Canadian golf’s fragment hierarchy and organizations such as the Royal Canadian Golf Association became irrelevant to the majority of golfers.

Probably the best example of golf missing the chance to listen to its customers came a few years ago when industry types and stakeholders in the game gathered for a summit in downtown Toronto to discuss the state of the game and the challenges ahead.

That meeting was the root of the national Play Golf initiative to grow the game, but noticeably absent were the very people who might have the answers – the people who actually pay to play. While it may not have worked to open the doors to all golfers, surely a cross-section of the market might have provided insight.

RCGA executive director Scott Simmons was recently asked if golfers had been consulted before the unveiling of the association’s Vision 2010 strategic plan. The answer was no, but they would be as the plan moves forward with the flexibility to be adjusted in each of its three years.

The general consensus afterwards was that golfers are the prime stakeholders in the game and should be first priority when such a plan is being formulated.

To be fair to Simmons, he has shown since taking office a year ago that he does plan to make communication a higher priority than ever in the past. Also, the RCGA does do a frequent national participation study in which it seeks opinions at the grassroots.

Assuming that the RCGA and other associations such as the National Golf Course Owners Association are willing to keep their ears and minds open to the concerns of grassroots golfers, then programs designed to address those priorities should be a big step towards strengthening the game.

Getting established golfers to play more rounds by addressing concerns about affordability, the time it takes to play golf and finding regular partners to play with will certainly increase traffic on fairways and greens, but growing the game is also about luring new players to the game.

As important as it is to get input from golfers, that’s only half the challenge. Talking to non-golfers and those who have left the game is just as important in order to find out what turns people off golf or what the game’s image is among those who don’t play the game.

The traditional thinking is that catching kids at a young age is the way to lure them to the game of a lifetime and there’s no denying the wisdom of that philosophy, so junior golf is important, but what about the challenges ahead for these youngsters, things that may draw them away, perhaps forever?

Much has been made of the importance of luring women to golf and great strides have been made the past 10 years or so, but there is more work to be done. For example, what about women aged 20 to 40 who have either given up the game or not started it because they are starting careers or having families?

There’s the possibility that these women might come back to the game, but there are no guarantees. Perhaps, “nine and dine” leagues, in which they play a quick nine and have dinner on a specific evening, perhaps with daycare set up, is the answer, but let’s ask them.

The baby boomers are hitting their 60s now and could be a huge demographic for golf, especially since they are, on the whole, considered healthier than any other generation at that age. They will have more time, but not all made fortunes, so what effect will living on a fixed income have on them playing golf?

Also, we like to call Canada a multicultural country, but next time you’re at the golf course, take a look around and see if golf reflects this country’s diversity. Combined, these ethnic groups represent another potential demographic that appears to be mostly untapped at this point.

Let’s make it clear that this is not solely the responsibility of the RCGA, which often gets the finger pointed at it when subjects such as this come up. Other associations would benefit from listing to their customers and the ones who don’t use their products.

Suggestions such as this often come up when talk turns to growing the game, but it’s now time to stop talking about growing the game and instead start listening to the people who have the ability to grow it.

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• Fall 2008 Talking in your Backswing | by Ian Hutchinson

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