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GOLF RESOURCE GUIDE:
Founders' Note
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 Traditional methods of growing the game — junior golf programs, golf clinics and merchandise shows — are excellent ways to promote the sport, but the fact remains that many of us have less recreational time and fewer dollars to spend. Couple that with the reality that there are plenty of other recreational activities for kids and adults these days, and there’s good reason to be concerned about the future of the game. That’s why we’re excited that one of the most influential old-school organizations, the PGA of America, is helping sponsor a new media initiative: playgolfamerica.com. The website is devoted to exposing the game to all kinds of people in a number of ways. Whether it’s assistance in finding a golf course or a PGA professional in your area or offering tidbits about the history, rules and etiquette of the game, the site is perfect for helping new or experienced golfers get rolling or excited again. It reaches out to juniors, women, families, seniors and golfers of all abilities and ages. If you’re interested in how golf can improve your fitness or have questions about equipment, there are informative, reader-friendly pages to navigate. One of the site’s most impressive features is a promotions calendar, where courses and golf professionals across the country can list different programs designed to get people interested in playing and improving their game. (For more details on the nationwide venture, check out the story on page 21.) It’s one of the most far-reaching attempts by major golf organizations (the SCPGA and USGA are also fully onboard) to proactively grow the game that we’ve heard of. And we love every aspect of it. For an attempt closer to home to grow the game, we also salute the SCPGA’s after-school golf program for underprivileged children in the Hawthorne Unified School District. The SCPGA has partnered with Total Golf Adventures to offer the free program at 10 schools in the district. Each school’s class will have 24 students in the five-week program, offered in the winter, spring and fall. It will consist of four weeks of learning the game and one week on the golf course at Alondra Park, where head pro Larry Schneider will introduce kids to golf in real time. Both ventures address the most critical need of the sport: getting new people to play, with a pronounced emphasis on getting juniors involved, whether on their own or with parents. Programs like these are exciting to us because they’re positive attempts to grow the game at a time when it desperately needs it. We know our lives would be diminished if golf wasn’t an important part, and we’d hate to see the game lose its relevance to a new generation — or to those millions of people who don’t know what they’re missing if they’ve never consider making golf an enjoyable part of a fulfilling life. |
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