The perfect Scottsdale Golf Club is taking some rather interesting steps to increase golf participation with less-than-traditional methods. The majority of these steps have been a mimic of the efforts being made by the PGA of America, which is trying to create more buzz around this sport and helping to revive it from its less-than-impressive participation numbers it has had in the past few months.Some of the areas being reviewed include the traditional 18 hole round of golf, which for some golfers this just doesn’t work. Now that the industry is at a critical juncture of growth, steps must be taken to find some possible alternatives that will enhance the player’s enthusiasm and enjoyment of the game.
As the membership at golf clubs around the country decline, the primary efforts of the PGA of America has included developing a task force to include Arlen Kantarian, who previously worked to reverse the downturn of tennis; Mark King, the CEO of TaylorMade-adidas Golf as well as the creator of HackGolf.org; Bode Miller, the Olympic medal winner who helped to create a reemergence of skiing; and the co-host of the Morning Drive on the Golf Channel, Damon Hack.
These four individuals will be joined by PGA CEO Pete Bevacqua; PGA board member and former LPGA professional Dottie Pepper; Melvin Bullitt a former NFL player; Tom Dundon who is a part owner of Top Golf; Ashley Mayo who is the editor of the Audience Engagement portion of Golf Digest; and Bishop. The team is charged with the duty of developing new, exciting methods that will encourage golf enthusiasts, as well as other golfers to participate in the game. These efforts are going to be mimicked and used around the country to increase the games participants in all areas of the golfing industry.
The force is going to be searching for both short and long-term solutions, which means its efforts will be focusing on immediate concepts that will be able to be implemented by PGA members, as well as the entire golf industry, which is where Scottsdale Golf Club is gathering information and gaining more non-traditional ideas for increasing membership and general participation.
According to PGA Performance Trak, as of March 2014 the total rounds of golf that were being played were down a total of 3.5 percent compared to the numbers recorded in March of 2013. Additionally, this past March had the absolute lowest number of rounds played since the beginning of the PGA Performance Trak.
With these efforts, the task force is working to rebuild a love for the game and ensure that membership and participation are increased at the Scottsdale Golf Club as well as around the country.