The resurgence of golf play during the pandemic is by now old news. Rounds are up. Off-course golf activity is up. Avid golfers, casual golfers, new golfers—everyone is getting in on the fun.
This is happening after a nearly two-decade-long period of sluggishness. The National Golf Foundation (NGF) reported 24.8 million golfers in 2020—500,000 more than in 2019—the largest increase in 17 years. 2020 also witnessed the largest percentage increase for beginning and youth golfers since 1997, the year Tiger Woods won his first major. Data coming in for 2021 has continued to show golf’s momentum holding steady.
What remains to be seen though is whether the current golf boom has staying power, particularly among Gen Z (born 1997-mid 2000s) and millennials (born 1981-1996).
What you believe about this question will land you in one of two camps: optimist or fatalist. The optimist, often trumpeting the virtues of so-called new golf—defined by Topgolf, but also a host of other more casual and fun outlets for the game—will tell you that the game is growing because it is becoming more accessible and more fun. The fatalist, often a more seasoned and traditional golfer, will say that new golf is faddish and the golf boom temporary.
For now, the optimist is winning. But unlike the last time golf experienced anything similar, when the “Tiger effect” of the late 1990s was expected to magically diversify and grow the game only to fizzle out, golf’s leaders aren’t just waiting and watching.
THE CHANGING FACE OF GOLF
According to NGF data, in 2020, 34% of junior golfers were female and more than a quarter were non-Caucasian. Junior golfers are now twice as likely to be female and four times as likely to be non-Caucasian compared to 2000.
A record 3 million first-time golfers took to the course in 2020. As for age, 44% of people who played golf in 2020 were under the age of 40, and roughly the same number of people in their 30s played golf as those in their 60s.
The headwinds are blowing strong, but to keep it up golf leaders need to know: Who is this next generation of golfer and what do they want?
KemperSports, a leading golf course management company, asked next-gen golfers in July 2021. Surveying 24,774 current, lapsed and new golfers about their desires for staying in the game (or coming back to it), KemperSports found the casual fun element to be a major factor. According to their findings, more than 40% of respondents said social events or activities would motivate them to play more in 2021, and only 12% said a lack of improvement in their game would deter them. Fifty-eight percent said they intended to play just as much in the future—provided they felt “comfortable and confident.”
The new golfer wants to have a good time in a no-pressure environment. A new digital movement to create that environment—organized by golf industry leaders—is called #MakeGolfYourThing.
FROM MOMENTUM TO MOVEMENT—#MakeGolfYourThing
At the forefront of the movement to grow golf’s next generation of players is #MakeGolfYourThing, a marketing campaign launched in spring 2021 by the PGA Tour in partnership with a vast coalition of organizations and companies across industry. The initiative’s mission is to both grow and diversify golf by inviting people from every walk of life to engage with the sport in their own way. The invitation is twofold: On the one hand, it’s an olive branch from the highest reaches of golf’s power structure to new and beginning golfers, one that bears no trace of pressure or coercion. In this function, #MakeGolfYourThing—the Twitter hashtag, logo and associated branding—is an inclusive campaign. On the other hand, it’s a call to action to the owners and operators of golf facilities, retailers and companies, etc., to join the movement and leverage its resources (a downloadable, out-of-the-box marketing toolkit full of customizable invitations, graphics, video content and helpful tips) to do work at the grass roots level.
That’s the whole point of #MakeGolfYourThing—to have an impact on the ground. Many teams of professionals are working to support community programs and create and drive participation. It’s a mechanism for grass roots action.
Santa Ana Golf Club in New Mexico was one of the first facilities to accept the #MakeGolfYourThing invitation and customize it for their community. The public access club began by narrowing in on a time frame for their campaign: the golfing season from May to September. They then decided on a particular invitation to their community. In their case, this was to encourage existing customers to invite one beginning golfer to an evening putting and chipping event, one with music, drinks and PGA staff on site giving free instruction. Santa Ana also created another invitation specific to new Native American golfers from the surrounding communities for free instruction from pro staff. In all of this, Santa Ana was assisted by #MakeGolfYourThing to utilize social media platforms, coordinate messaging to the community and even publicize their efforts in the local newspaper.
While Santa Ana offered discounts as part of their invitation, that’s not required. Public or private, facility or organization, group or individual—#MakeGolfYourThing is customizable to suit anyone’s needs so long as the mission is to grow the game.
BIG TENT GOLF
Golf is learning from its mistakes. The Tiger Woods boom that was supposed to usher in a golden age of participation in the sport largely petered out in the early 2000s because it wasn’t helped along in any meaningful way by the industry leaders—not so in 2021. Now, with the golf winds blowing again, the game is putting up its sails.
The golf boom will not last forever. But while it is happening, there is an opportunity for golf leaders to secure a brighter future for the game by prioritizing the experiences of the beginning golfers and those who have for too long have felt left out. #MakeGolfYourThing is just one way to seize this opportunity. Perhaps your club has another in mind. No matter, so long as your program takes a generous and welcoming stance to newcomers. Then, when the inevitable contraction comes, the new golfers who picked up a club in 2020 will feel at home in the game and that next generation of golfers will be a good deal larger than the last.
WILSHIRE COUNTRY CLUB TO HOST APGA TOURNAMENT
Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles is hosting its first Advocates Professional Golf Association Tour (APGA) tournament, the Farmers Insurance Fall Series Finale, in November 2021. When that event concludes, Wilshire will become the first private club in the U.S. to host both an APGA and LPGA tournament in the same calendar year—a feat that distinguishes the club for its commitment to enhancing diversity in the game.
The APGA Tour was founded in 2010 as a nonprofit organization with the mission of preparing African Americans and other minority golfers “to compete and win at the highest level of professional golf, both on tour and in the golf industry.” The APGA Tour works toward this mission through professional tournaments, mentoring and career development.
2021 will be a banner year for the APGA, which began in 2008 with only three tournaments and $40,000 in combined prize money and has now grown to 13 tournaments totaling $350,000. What’s more, three of the APGA’s top players earned exemptions into PGA Tour events this year, proving the APGA’s mission is no flight of fancy.
The partnership began in October 2020 when Ken Bentley, CEO of the APGA and a member at Wilshire, approached the board with the idea. While the board was not allowing any outside events at the time due to the pandemic, it made an exception for the APGA cause and stepped up to the plate.
Wilshire’s commitment doesn’t begin and end with hosting the tournament. The club will also participate in a pro-am the Sunday prior to the tournament in which members and APGA players will play together. This is in keeping with the APGA’s mission of helping its players make connections and friendships that bridge historical divides and invite opportunity—on the course and off it.
Golf industry leaders talk a lot about making the game more inclusive and diverse. Wilshire’s partnership with the APGA is a great example of what action toward this goal might look like in the private club world.