[ThinkingPlus]

I had lunch with a dear friend last week. This person is the author of several successful golf books and as a result, keeps a keen eye on the industry. I learned that worldwide, more people are leaving the game than joining.

Why is this happening and what needs to be done?

Thanks,

Bagger

Golf is a difficult game. Fewer people stick with hard to do activities because that is human nature. However, there is a group of people who embrace hard to do things because they are hard to do ( ). My guess is that the number in this "like things difficult" category remains relatively constant over time. Real growth is numbers of players will only arise by stealing from other "hard" activities or making people aware of golf who have never heard of the game. The increase in numbers of players due to the Tiger effect will fall off as these players realize the difficulties involved. Only the hardy will stick with it. The decrease you are seeing is this fall off I suspect. JMHO