Fall Term Highlighted by Golf Industry Seminar

What’s the big deal with golf? 28 million Americans play the game. There is $3.5 billion in charity generated from golf, including $135 million in charity generated by PGA tournaments in  the year 2008. The game is larger than the motion picture or  any sport in the United States.

The big deal here is that golf is the motor that helps run the American sports industry, not to mention the economy as a whole. The sport has created two million jobs in the U.S. with an impressive total wage generated of $61 million.

"Stars drive sports" -David Higdon, LPGA Chief Communications Officer

These are all facts that were discussed at a Golf industry discussion panel in October that members of the Warsaw Sports Business Club attended. Held at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, the site where Tiger Woods was the first  to win three straight U.S. Amateur Championships, the event featured numerous promimant figures in the game of golf.

The key note speaker and panel moderator was the LGPA Chief Communications Officer, David Higdon. Talking about the LPGA, Higdon took time to to describe his tour’s brand that included five values: performance, passion, appearance, approachability, relevance. In his explanation, Hagdon said the tour values inspiration and education of its fan base and tries hard to get the fans to relate to what they see. The tour does this through player web pages and numerous public appearances, making the player more accessible and relatable to the public eye.

Higdon provided the key note address for the seminar.

In his discussion of the current state of the game, Hagdon explained that the number of golfers since the 1990′s has increased, but rounds are down about 20% or about 8,000 rounds per year. Between 10 and 15 percent of U.S. courses are at risk of going out and between 100 and 200 courses around the country close per year. The good news? Hagdon explained that the worst is behind us, with 400 new courses built in 2008 and rising. The interesting thing about this game is that not many other sports are able to effect factor such as real estate. Many new housing developments around the country are centered around golf clubs.

The panel discussion included key golf industry figures such as the CEO of the Oregon Golf Association, the founder of the Pumpkin Ridge Club, a Marketing Apparel rep from Nike, and the Executive Producer from Comcast SportsNet.

In their discussion, the industry professionals discussed strategies in dealing with the current economic state of the game. A big drive is grass roots that focuses on creating Junior programs, while also keeping the female golfers involved. Others discussed creative strategies to get golfers to the course, including unlimited driving range balls, day care centers at golf courses, and of of course, twilight golf discounts.

Other issues discussed included the expensive entry point problem for the game because of the cost of clubs, apparel, green fees, and the numerous other costs that go with playing the game of golf. The rep from Nike, Kim Nelson, described that a major problem associated with the game is the struggling of domestic growth because of the delusion of globalization of the game.

A younger Tiger Woods, winning the U.S. Amateur Championship at Pumpkin Ridge.

It is important to realize, however, that through all of these issues, Golf will always survive because of its strong and loyal fan base. One panel member described as golf being the best sport for four main reasons: The game promotes values and self, if you have a terrible round you can still remember that one great shot, its a life long game, and best of all, its like sex- you don’t have to be good to enjoy it.

As a side note, I will not go into much detail regarding Tiger Woods stepping away from the game and losing many of his sponsorship deals. I will say though, that I agree with Nike’s Phil Knight, saying that his will all be a minor blip in Tiger’s career. I think the guy will come back better than ever, motivated to prove the public eye wrong and show that he is still a worthy human being.

For more on Tiger, take a look at a Washington Post Article that features Warsaw’s own, Paul Swangard.

Check back for more new content soon.

-AG

Tags: David Higdon, golf, LPGA, Paul Swangard, Pumpkin Ridge, Tiger Woods, WSBC