Each year, now that I have kids, I rarely make an effort ot actually watch the live coverage of the Masters tournament in Augusta, but I do make sure to keep up with the event online after everyone is asleep. I watched the video that is linked below and it is very insightful to see how Jack, Arnie, and the Black Knight view the game of golf today. Courses are too long, the ball travels too far, too expensive to maintain, and efforts need to be made to increase the enjoyment and fun of the game. Jack references the Golf 2.0 program that has been implimented by the PGA of America that is designed to increase participation of golfers. I am not too familiar with what that program entails YET (I will be soon as I am interested in growing our slice of the golfing pie), but golf does need to be made more fun. I play with a number of our more mature golfers within the County programs and there are not many that can realistically get to many of our moderate length par 4's in regulation let alone some of our longer holes. I get tradition, trust me, but how is it fun to hit a ggod driver, three wood, 9-iron into a hole, when single digit handicaps can make it there with a driver and a wedge. The "Tee it Forward" program makes perfect sense to me and we will be implimenting this program at Morro Bay and Dairy Creek this summer. Chalk used this program last year, before it was a program, to introduce women and beginning golfers to the game. I think this is something that can be done to enhance the enjoyment of our current senior, women, and begining golfers. The trick is going to be getting people to actually play the tee that is best for them because golf is about tradition. Check out the video and share your thoughts by commenting on this post. Thanks for reading and "Come on Freddy!"
http://www.masters.com/en_US/videos/interviews.html (look for Honorary Starters Interview 2012)
"When you get those dudes thinking, they're in trouble."
~Pete Dye, the course architect, on desiging courses for PGA tournaments
Thanks for the information Josh. I see way too many people playing from the blues that have no business being back there. Some how we need to remove the stigma of hitting from the whites or even up to the tees that make it fun. I play from the whites because I want to hit more than an driver three wood. It doesn't bother me to have the others in my group tee off behind me. Most of the game is from the second shot in anyway. One of the things I do is tell those that play from the blues that they can look for their own ball when they hit from there. If they are good enough to be back there, they should be able to keep the ball in the fairway.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to helping promote the play it forward attitude.