The new PGA Task Force - another meeting about a meeting? Here's what I'd do if I ran the PGA of America:

The PGA of America announced the formation of a 'Growth of Game Task Force' last week and I can't help but sigh.

Here is the announcement from PGA President Ted Bishop on Morning Drive:

The task force is described as having three focal points:

1. Redefine what the golf experience is.
2. Explore innovative alternative methods to playing golf.
3. Develop an alternative set of guidelines that will allow recreational players to enjoy the game with more relaxed rules.

This has the feeling to me of planning a meeting to schedule a meeting.

Three years ago there was the Boston Consulting Group report that identified the challenges faced by the sport (time, cost, difficulty) and growth opportunities (lapsed golfers, baby boomers, minorities, women, children).

Golf 2.0 was then created to develop player development strategies that targeted the consumer segments identified above.

HackGolf was then created to crowdsource ideas.

And now we have a task force to discuss these ideas.

There are a few issues with all of this.

The first is the vast spectrum of definitions people have for "golf."  Is "golf" hitting a ball with a club?  Is it getting a ball in a hole?  Is it both?  Here's what Merriam-Webster has to say about it:

golf

 noun, often attributive \ˈgälf, ˈgȯlf, ˈgäf, ˈgȯfsometimes ˈgəlf\

: an outdoor game in which players use special clubs (called golf clubs) to try to hit a small ball with as few strokes as possible into each of 9 or 18 holes

I've posed the question about golf's definition to many people within the industry and received many different responses.  If we cannot define what golf is, how can we "redefine" it?

The second issue is that a task force is more talk and less action.  For all the discussion around BCG, Golf 2.0, HackGolf - has anything tangible come from them?  Not that I'm aware of.

This focus on being unfocused is a liability.  HackGolf will not succeed for a simple reason - people who have "cutting edge ideas" aren't going to just hand them over to a website.  They're going to want credit, upside, ownership.

So the flavor of this week is FootGolf.  Last week it was Mark King of Taylor Made proposing larger holes.  The week before that it was bifurcation.  Next week it sounds like it could be pay-by-the-minute timecards (which is a concept with numerous issues).  So many ideas, so many opportunities, so little execution.

The most successful companies, products and organizations succeed through long-term commitment to a few causes based around a central strategy.  That's what we need to do here.

The final issue is that none of this really matters without serious industry collaboration and we have a large hill to climb in this regard.  The PGA of America can do everything Bishop describes, but would it matter?  The USGA made their stance on recreational golf clear last year when they told tens of thousands of weekend warriors that they had to switch the most important club in their bag or be labelled a cheater.  Is the PGA ready to assert itself as the all-encompassing authority on golf in the same way that the USTA has for tennis?

If I were in charge of the PGA, here's what I'd do:

Step 1 - I'd establish that the definition of golf is the way Webster has it, except I'd eliminate the last clause about "9 or 18 holes."

Step 2 - I'd establish a central strategy that focuses on three product elements - 1) the golf course experience, 2) the golf facility experience, 3) the mobile golf experience.

Step 3a - For the golf course experience, I'd create a set of recreational rules.  Key elements would include playing all penalties as hazards and having looser guidelines on equipment.  This would preserve the core tradition of the game (i.e. no "redefining" needed) while speeding up play and making the game more enjoyable.

Step 3b - For the golf facility experience, I'd find a way to partner with TopGolf and replicate their core value of turning the driving range a social and recreational hub for avid players and beginning golfers alike, just like a bowling alley.

Step 3c - For the mobile golf experience, I'd partner with SNAG on the equipment side and my company TGA on the delivery model side to bring golf out into the community through programs at schools, parks, senior centers and elsewhere.

Step 4 - Before rolling out this plan, I'd go to golf's other governing bodies to get their support so we could operate as one cohesive unit.  If they didn't provide it, I'd move forward anyways with confidence that my plan was the best for long-term sustainable growth.

Step 5 - Finally, I'd sell the plan to PGA members.  Many won't agree with something like this so I'd prepare for the backlash.  But all it takes is a few early adopters and some early successes to change the political tides.

Step 6 - This would be the one and only plan for the next three years.  All focus and resources would be dedicated to executing it at the highest level possible.

Hopefully something like this is being developed within the PGA's walls.  From what I know, it is.  But  the hard part is not the talking or planning.  It's the doing.  Historically, bold ideas stall out because people and organizations in the golf industry don't want to rock the boat.  Well, the data clearly tells us that the boat needs a rocking.

I support the Task Force in the same way that I do anything that is trying to move the needle forward within our industry, but I support with trepidation as I worry that it's more of the same.

I'd prefer more of a proactive approach.  An entrepreneurial approach.

Spend 2012 on the Right Side of the Haimish Line

After a break for the holidays and the birth of my beautiful daughter Eva Grace Tanner, I’m returning to my weekly blog with a renewed vigor for 2012.

I’ve been reading a lot lately and one of the more interesting pieces was a Mark Suster blog titled “Spend 2012 on the Right Side of the Haimish Line" in which he references this NYT article by David Brooks.

Brooks defines haimish as “a Yiddish word that suggests warmth, domesticity and unpretentious conviviality.”  The concept is that you risk crossing the haimish line into a less happy existence if you blockade yourself from normal folks.  Examples of doing this would include staying at super-private hotels, working solely from behind a desk, etc.  As I read these articles, I took the concept a step further by thinking about the professional consequences that would arise from boxing in one's experiences.  i.e. If you play golf exclusively at private and luxurious clubs, yes, you'll miss out on the congeniality of playing with weekend warriors who are making friends, drinking beers and playing for the love of the game.  However, if this same person is then responsible for addressing the challenges faced by these weekend warriors, they probably wouldn't do a very good job.  They'd be too far removed.  The challenges themselves would fall outside the false sense of reality that their experiences had created.  And thus, professionally, they'd be operating from the wrong side of the haimish line.  

As I went through this intellectual exercise, I thought a lot about the golf industry.  And I’ve thought a lot about this concept of the haimish line since as several interesting headlines and observations appeared in the first few weeks of 2012.

First, at the PGA Tour’s season opening tournament in Kapalua, Commissioner Tim Finchem announced the Tour’s commitment to raise $100 million for The First Tee this year.  Since 1997, The First Tee has been the sole junior golf organization supported by the golf industry and it operates on a $13 million annual budget.  And yet, despite The First Tee’s claim that they’ve had 4.7 million participants, there are less kids playing golf in the U.S. today than there were the day it was founded.  (2.8 million in 1995 vs. 2.5 million in 2010 - National Golf Foundation data.)  Instead of opening their doors and offering support/resources to other youth programs, industry leaders are doubling down on their single all-in bet.  That, to me, is a decision made from the wrong side of the haimish line.

Then, earlier this week, Finchem proposed a change to the Q School format. One of the great things about professional golf is that anyone can pursue their dream of making it on Tour. You don’t need to get drafted, you don’t need an agent, you don't need to be a certain age … you just need to pass through Q School, which is open to any good player. The new format would be a 3-tournament series that is only available to select Nationwide and PGA Tour players, thus eliminating the opportunity for college golfers, club pros and anyone else who’s been working meticulously on their game to bypass the mini Tours and go straight to the big leagues. The new format benefits existing tour players, adds three new tournaments and their corresponding revenue, and undoubtedly builds more prestige in the Nationwide Tour (which, perhaps coincidentally, is in need of a new title sponsor after this year). But nevertheless, it's a closed format. Derived from closed-minded thinking that, to me, comes from the wrong side of the haimish line.

On the flipside, Golf 2.0 has done a great job of identifying golf’s many challenges and it has the industry’s undivided attention.  Its presence is everywhere at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando this week.  The much harder and more important part is to now identify viable solutions and execute on them.  Nevertheless, I applaud the PGA for hiring Boston Consulting Group to provide them with a sobering analysis.  I also applaud them for recruiting the perfect person to lead Golf 2.0 in Darrell Crall.  These are all things happening from the right side of the haimish line.

Additionally, the PGA of America clearly has a new social media strategy on Twitter that is much more active and open-minded.  Historically they would only tweet well-manicured PR messages but now they’re engaged in an active dialogue with industry members, including retweeting criticisms and all.  I’m also a big fan of the hashtag they’ve been promoting - #growgolf.  These are smart, engaged decisions made from the right side of the haimish line.

All of these topics require further discussion and there are other smaller examples as well, but the point I want to get across is this concept of this haimish line.  The golf industry has been operating from the wrong side of it for too long.  And it’s understandable – industry leaders don’t pay for golf, probably haven’t experienced a six hour round in their professional careers and aren’t working shoulder-to-shoulder with the PGA Pro who’s folding shirts in the shop and struggling to get by.  It’s good to see that they’re taking steps in the right direction to understand and address the challenges being faced by golfers, industry members and the game as a whole.

With that, I have a challenge for everyone, myself included - let's make sure we spend 2012 on the right side of the haimish line.

PGA Fall Expo & Golf 2.0

I found myself in a weird sort of dual time capsule at the recent Fall PGA Expo in Las Vegas and it was an interesting experience.

On the surface, this looked like every other Fall PGA Expo I’ve attended.  It was small – a fractional size of the Orlando show in January – and the vendors were from the same breed of decades-old golf companies.  There were the equipmenteers, the gadgeteers, the fashioneers and the suppliers.  A few interesting things caught my eye, but for the most part it was the same old stuff.  And there were more people selling than buying.  It was a great symbolic snapshot of the golf industry.

Below this surface, however, something special was happening.  There were murmurs and words and plans of change to challenge the status quote in a real way.  It’s called Golf 2.0. I’ve been on record as believing that golf needs fundamental and significant alterations to the current model in order for the game to grow – and while little on the showroom floor represented this, Golf 2.0 does

The PGA of America recently announced Golf 2.0 as the industry’s answer to a recent Boston Consulting Group study that confirmed what those of us in the industry already knew – golf in the U.S. is a shrinking business.  The initiative has three core strategies – 1) Retain/Strengthen the Core; 2) Engage “Lapsed” Golfers (of which there are supposedly 90 million with 70% interested in returning); 3) Drive New Players.

You can read a comprehensive article about BCG’s study and Golf 2.0 in this month’s digital PGA Magazine, located here. 

PGA President Allen Wronowski had a great quote that encapsulates the initiative and why I like it:

“We need to make golf more welcoming and more relevant to women and minorities.  We need to overcome the misperception that golf costs too much, and that it has to be an 18-hole experience.  Golf is such a fun game that is ideal for families, so we now have a great opportunity to attract millions to our game who have expressed an interest in playing.  But we have to change the way we run our businesses to make that a reality.”

Amen.  I support this plan and hope to be a part of it at TGA Premier Junior Golf.

As entrepreneurs, we know that success with a new initiative has less to do with the plan and more to do with the execution, and execution comes down to the management team.  I applaud the PGA of America for recognizing this and recruiting Darrell Crall, a man I respect and admire, to lead Golf 2.0.  I’ve known Darrell for several years and couldn’t think of a better person in the industry to spearhead this initiative. 

Usually a great leader with a strong plan executes well and produces significant results, and I certainly hope that’s the outcome here. 

If you read through the Golf 2.0 report, you’ll also see that there are many opportunities for entrepreneurs to capitalize on the shifting landscape the golf industry will undertake with these initiatives.  I look forward to exploring some of these opportunities on this blog.

  

Good luck to Darrell Crall, the PGA of America, PGA Professionals and all of the entrepreneurs who will hopefully make Golf 2.0 a huge success.