Can golf regain its youth?

The sport has never struggled to attract masses of crowds to professional events and audiences to their TV screens, but it’s the playing off the pro circuit that is a cause for concern, with club memberships in the UK dropping a quarter between 2004 and 2014. A recent article in the FT by Andrew Hill addressed the challenges facing golf that is now suffering from its stuffy image and the costs associated with the game.

But what exactly would attract a younger audience?

The issues cited by US veteran Tom Watson before the Scottish Open at St Andrews were that “golf is expensive, it is slow and takes too long to play.” These obstacles coupled with the growing popularity of social media and how long people spend on it is intensifying the game’s challenges. A radical change to the sport would turn its back on the game’s loyal players, so new alternatives are a must to ensure there is a future for a game steeped in tradition.

Social, shorter forms of the game are coming to the fore with companies like TopGolf breaking through. TopGolf have merged the precision and skill of the game with socialising, through a mixture of entertaining high-tech game formats and onsite lounge and bar. Delivering fast food and American-style customer service at an affordable price.

Urban Golf in London have enabled city slickers who are 30 miles from their nearest golf course to satisfy their clubhouse cravings. Urban Golf have turned their backs on the traditional stiffness of century-old golf club snobbery by promoting a fun, relaxed vibe where friends can socialise, exchange banter and play up to 60 championship courses from a venue in Soho or Central London. They even have rules mocking golf snobbery like “Rule 49: the winding up of opponents is deemed to be entirely within the spirit of the game”.

Big-Hole golf needs no explanation, but we’ll sum it up anyway, so instead of a regular 4.25 inch diameter hole, these holes are 15 inches wide. The game is practically the same, play a normal round and then for those who are intimidated by a dreaded 5-foot putt have nothing to worry about. This idea allows golfers to improve their game on the fairway and save time on the putting green. You might even get a hole-in-one!

These novelty businesses offer a fresh approach to the sport. With two of the three offering lessons which means the remnants of golf live on as an undercurrent to their services. We need more ways for young people to engage with the sport through a quick, least-expensive alternative. Crazy golf has been the silly brother of the sport for decades, but there is merit to this simplified (sometimes not so simple) form of the game. Crazy golf may be snubbed by seasoned players, but it is ideas like these that attract younger players and families similarly. Initiatives like the Sport England “This Girl Can” campaign were supported by American Golf earlier this year as a part of National Golf Month in May. This saw PGA professional’s stage taster sessions for girls and women alike in a relaxed environment.

The pros are key to preserving the game, they are the touchpoint between what we see on sports channels, in the majors, and every day golf. They can pass on their knowledge, they can encourage younger people by teaching them how to play the game and develop appreciation. An individual approach will focus uptake in younger, aspiring players, and companies need to re-evaluate their cost structures by paying pros more and making lessons cheaper instead of simply passing the cost on to the player, as it is time that needs to be invested in growing interest not necessarily money.