The golf industry is facing a 250-yard par-3.
Yeah, that's hard. Golf is struggling because the number of people playing the game has been on the decline for the past few years and that means - what else? - a decline in revenue.
Golf courses sell fewer green fees and memberships; sales of golf balls and clubs go down. Golf resorts attract fewer tourists.
Myriad reasons abound for golf falling on hard times but one refrain heard often is that the game takes too long and young people aren't taking up the game because . . . well, they just don't have the time in this go-go world we live in.
But rather than just throw up their hands and saying "there's no way I can get to this 250-yard par-3 in one shot," the golf industry is coming up with what it hopes are solutions.
One is encouraging a return to the nine-hole round. And why not? A baseball game takes a little over two hours; a curling game is two hours or so; a night out at a hockey game is maybe three, by the time you take travel time into account. A supper at a nice restaurant with that special someone takes around two hours.
But golf is four hours, or more, and that is the obstacle the golf industry is facing as it tries to entice newcomers to the game. And to that end, Golf Digest magazine is leading the charge on the nine-hole round.
"We're not trying to get everyone who plays 18 holes to play nine holes instead," Jerry Tarde, Golf Digest's chairman and editor in chief, said.
"We're after the people who aren't playing because they think golf is a half-day proposition, which it isn't."
As courses get longer and new equipment is helping golfers hit the ball farther, the sport might seem to be a marathon to non-golfers who might consider taking up the game. That's why the nine-hole initiative, and the "play-it-forward" approach (where golfers are encouraged to play from forward tees to make the game easier and, ergo, more enjoyable) are giving hope to those in the golf industry that the game will not only survive, but thrive in the future.
As for that 250-yard par-3? Bang a driver, make a four, and consider it a par. It's only a game.
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