The One-time Golf Lesson - How to Hook the Latent Golfer

By: Nancy Berkley


On May 6th, the day before the PGA Tour Players Championship began, the leaders of the five major golf associations got together for a press conference titled "Golf Officials Discuss State of the Game." The full press conference can be read on www.cybergolf.com/industryupdates.

I usually skip reading this type of industry press conference puffery, but for some reason I put the 11-page press conference aside for a later read. Instead I watched Rickie Fowler on TV play and win the championship.

Last week as I sorted through my desk papers, I came across the "State of the Game" press conference and decided to give it a read. It took me about two paragraphs to realize that, for the most part, this was a carefully crafted script to deliver particular industry messages.

Participating were: Tim Finchem (PGA Tour), Steve Mona (World Golf Foundation), Pete Bevacqua (PGA of America), Mike Whan (LPGA) and Mike Davis (USGA). The first message was that they were all working together. The word "collaborate" or "collaboration" was used about a dozen times. It was almost a love-fest.

The other message from three of the speakers (not including Whan and Davis) was what I call "defensive optimism." For example: The closing of more golf courses is really good news because it has brought the stable-to-declining number of golfers more in line with the decline in the number of golf courses. Or, there was bad weather last year but it didn't dampen the number of golf rounds too badly. Or, it is encouraging that the number of golfers has stayed steady for the last four years.

In contrast, Whan spoke about the growth in women's and girl's golf with real numbers and absolute optimism, capping it off with "We feel that we can really move the needle."

Davis of the USGA offered some slightly different food for thought. He spoke about the demand side of the potential golfer. What are they looking for? I liked his comment, "Good golf is fun golf. And I think we ought to think to ourselves, how can we make the game more enjoyable."

The enjoyment factor is key. Recent studies by the National Golf Foundation confirm that millions of adults who currently do not play golf express interest in playing. In fact, based on latest NGF studies, over 30 million non-golfers say they are interested in learning to play.

This is what the industry hopes it can do: Convert the "latent" golfer to a "current" golfer. I've always been a little doubtful about this strategic plan, but hopefully I am wrong.

The PGA of America golf professionals have the closest interface with the latent golfer. Programs like Get Golf Ready - five lessons for about $100 - have brought affordable golf and good instruction to thousands. But, Get Golf Ready may still not be enough. Listen to my story. It happened just yesterday.

I was at the airport and finally found some cough drops in a shop that I needed for my flight. The young cashier saw that my newspaper was open to the sports page with some golfer photos. She says, "Do you play golf?" "I do," I reply. "Oh, my boy friend and I want to try it out. How do we find a place where we can try it out, it looks like fun."

I pause and think: "Try it out?" No one has ever asked me that question quite like that. I think for a minute and take out some paper, pencil and my cell phone. I show her how to search for "golf driving ranges" in her area and suggest a call to see if there is a teacher who will give them a one-time lesson. And then I show her how to search for local golf courses and ask the same question.

And I think to myself. Yes, "$99 for Get Golf Ready" is not bad. But for many, even that may be too big a commitment. Here's a young couple (milllenials in fact and "latent" golfers besides) who need a one-time introduction to golf to see if they like it.

The five industry leaders in this press conference can give me all the statistics and theories of why golf is going to be okay because of the huge number of latent golfers. But, first figure out a way for all the millions of latent golfers to just "try-it-out" - just for fun. And then - just maybe - the future of the game may get the jolt it needs.

Nancy Berkley, President of Berkley Golf Consulting, is an expert on women's golf and junior-girls golf. She is a frequent contributor to www.cybergolf.com/womensgolf. Her book, "Women Welcome Here! A Guide to Growing Women's Golf," published by the National Golf Foundation, is an industry reference on marketing golf to women and spotting trends within the industry. She offers information and advice about the golf industry on www.berkleygolfconsulting.com and is often quoted in national publications. Nancy is a member of the World Golf Foundation Women's Committee that launched www.golfforher.com a comprehensive new website for all women golfers at the PGA Merchandise Show in January 2015 in Orlando, Fla. She is a featured speaker at PGA Section meetings and at national conferences. She was a contributing editor of "Golf for Women" magazine and a founding advisor of "Golfer Girl Magazine." Her interviews with women in the golf industry now appear on www.golfergirlcareers.com. Nancy lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Harvard University and Rutgers Law School. After a business and legal career, she decided to write about the game she learned and loved as a teenager. She describes herself as a good bogey golfer with permanent potential.