Are You Good for Golf?
“Grow the game” is a phrase that’s been thrown around golf for as long as I can remember. Every year at the PGA Show, there is at least one seminar about growing the game. It’s become so cliche that it’s now mocked in some corners of the golf internet with the hashtag #ShrinkTheGame.
I’m going to argue that “growing” golf – however you measure it – isn’t the right goal. More accurately, it’s not the right goal for you and me. We don’t own golf courses or golf club companies, so we don’t care if golf “grows” or not. What regular golfers should be thinking about is bettering the game, which leads us to our question: “Are you good for golf?”
Golf Is Us
Golf is not a nebulous thing. Golf is us – everyone reading this. We are golf.
I believe that’s important to think about. It’s easy to feel small and irrelevant – there are loads of things we don’t control and many of them don’t go the direction we’d like – but we are the game. As such, we decide how good golf is.
A Better Prompt Leads to Better Action
“Grow the game” feels like (and is) someone else’s problem. There are countless factors involved in golf’s growth that are well beyond our control. “Better the game”, however, is something everyone can do.
Bettering the game can start very small. If you fix your ball marks or repair your divots, you’re bettering the game because you’re helping to maintain the course. You might say that these things are expected, the basics, the bare minimum. I wouldn’t disagree, but I would point out that they’re not technically required and not everyone does them, so if you do them, good on you. We can celebrate the little wins.
Would You Want to Play with You?
Another step would be considering the environment you create when you’re at a golf course. Preston Toulon [listen to our podcast with Preston HERE] summed this up beautifully:
You don’t have to play great, you just have to be great to play with.
Being great to play with doesn’t mean going miles out of your way. It could just be the elimination of negative behaviors – slow play, explosions of anger, rudeness to the people who work at the course. On the range, you can be mindful of your noise. On the putting green, you can be aware of sharing the space when it’s crowded.
Of course, you’re welcome to go above and beyond. If you and a friend are playing with a single, you can try to make them feel included. You could offer encouragement (but not coaching, please) to a new player. If you’ve ever played with someone and left saying to yourself, “Wow, that person was great to play with,” think about what they did and emulate it.
Understanding #ShrinkTheGame
To those who want to “shrink” golf, I get it. If you scroll through my history, I’ve probably tweeted it before. I’ve certainly said it to friends. Golf, like life, is full of frustrations, and most of them are connected to other people.
Guy in front of you filming every swing he makes? #ShrinkTheGame
Group playing as a six-some and acting like they own the course? #ShrinkTheGame
Green full of unrepaired ball marks? #ShrinkTheGame
The problem is, you can’t shrink the game. Nothing you do will make those people stop playing golf. And I’m not sure you want to actually shrink the game; you want to get rid of ignorant behavior on the course. To do that, you need to…
Be the Solution
Set the example for other players. It’s a rare person who will see someone else doing the right thing and continue doing wrong. They exist, but we have to believe they’re the tiny minority (if they’re not, we’re sunk).
When you encounter a slow player, an aspiring YouTuber, or a ball mark denier, try giving them the benefit of the doubt. Offer a solution rather than a criticism. “Excuse me, do you need to borrow a ball mark repair tool? You hit a good approach, and it left a nice mark over there.” That may be uncomfortable and my suggestion a bit Pollyanna-ish, but I suspect it will work better than “Hey, ****head, fix that mark.” Or just fix the mark for them while complimenting the approach shot.
Positive behaviors create a virtuous cycle just as certainly as negative ones create a downward spiral. If we respond to a pockmarked green by fixing extra marks, things will improve. If we respond to slow play by screaming at the group in front of us, the course becomes slow and hostile.
Let’s forget about growing golf and make it better instead. If golf gets a lot better, I think the growth will take care of itself.
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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3 Comments
Please don’t grow the game anymore in my area. Golf courses are packed as it is & a number of these newbies know nothing about rules, etiquette or pace of play. Apologies if I seem like a grumpy old man here (although I really don’t give a crap if I do!). A golf course in PRIME TIME is NOT the place to “learn how to play golf”. The driving range, short game area & lessons are.
Excellent article, Matt. I too, join those who mock the “Grow the game” mantra. The Grow The Game canard usually comes from the crested navy blazer crowd who hasn’t had to call to make a starting time (or sit and refresh their computer screens) in ten years. They play in 4 hours, or less, with a caddie, and have no clue ,what they are talking about. I am not grousing about junior golf or teaching kids how to play, how to caddie, etc. Parents playing with their kids is a great sight, no doubt. Covid ushered in a new population of golfers while giving the “work from home” crowd a hall pass to discreetly or openly head to the golf course. Play in a charity golf event, even as a scramble, and it is a 5 1/2 hour death march. Yes, that is often due to people who play golf once a year, but regardless, it is still a painful slog. And 5 hour rounds on weekends are the norm at many, if not most, public and resort golf venues. Even some private clubs who try, but can’t eliminate slow play, especially on greens with extreme speeds on a stimp. Grow the game? Really? What garbage. But be a better golfer as you describe? Yes. That is pure gold. Okay. You can get off my lawn now.
Mike Ditka once did a local commercial in Chicagoland where he promoted the same thing, “Fix your ball mark and one other each time. Let’s all pitch in to improve the game for everybody.” It had a big effect on me and I have tried to set the example in my groups.