My column from the Spring issue of Fairways Magazine:

A recent column by Jim Koppenhaver, a respected golf industry analyst from the US, explained that in the past he had been guilty of not giving due credit to all forms of golf when defining and assessing the current state of the game. By that he meant that so-called recreational golf was often overlooked as being part of the sport. Recreational golf in his view meant anything that could not be distilled down to an 18-hole competitive round. He elaborated that so-called recreational activities were often considered by golf industry associations as “an assault on competitive golf and the abandonment of tradition.” People who played recreational golf therefore were not real golfers.

One has to wonder then what exactly is a golfer? Does that mean that anybody who doesn’t post a score for handicap purposes isn’t a real golfer? Do the folks who only play nine holes every Wednesday afternoon not count? How about the ones who play five or six times a week but take mulligans, improve their lie and concede putts? Is that not real golf? Are they not real golfers?

By some counts there are approximately six million golfers in Canada but only about 400,000 of them are members of the RCGA through their provincial golf associations. Does that mean there are only 400,000 real golfers in Canada and the rest are not? Certainly golf course owners who rely on the other 5.6 million non-members to pay green fees and buy beer would disagree. Equipment manufacturers, golf pro shops and retail stores that sell clubs and balls would consider them all to be real golfers. If you asked any of the six million if they considered themselves to be real golfers, the answer would undoubtedly be affirmative in every case.

Now let’s take this a step further. Is someone who only plays miniature golf a real golfer? Traditionalists would scoff at such nonsense but The Rules of Golf define the game as follows, “the Game of Golf consists in playing a ball from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.” That happens in miniature golf. Ergo, they must be real golfers.

Between the PGA Tour and miniature golf is a vast range of activities that include the use of a golf club and golf ball. Modern technology has given us simulator golf where you can play courses all over the world without leaving town. If you have mastered simulator golf but never set foot on a real golf course does that make you a golfer? Is that real golf?

I must admit that, like Jim Koppenhaver, I too have a bias towards 18-hole competitive golf. My brother recently reminded me that I used to say that playing nine holes was like kissing your sister. However I’m evolving. Occasionally my wife and I will go out late on a Friday or Saturday evening and play as many holes as daylight will allow. I consider that real golf.

I also used to denigrate all forms of golf that involved anything other than playing your own ball on every shot. That meant I wasn’t a big fan of scrambles, shambles or alternate shot formats. If it included three flags on every green, holes the size of hubcaps or buying mulligan tickets those weren’t games for me either. But, as I said, I’m evolving.

It’s not really about what I prefer or any other individual for that matter. Golf is really anything that you want to make it. If 18-hole competitive golf occupies one end of the spectrum, there are a wide range of things that most traditionalists would find abhorrent on the other end. But those other activities, if they involve swinging a golf club at a golf ball, can be part of the game too, at least in the broader definition.

Most prudent people have an abiding dislike of waste. One of my pet peeves is that a large percentage of our property tax dollars go towards the building and equipping of schools that are unused for sixty percent of the year. I acknowledge that there are insurance issues involved but couldn’t the gymnasiums and classrooms be put towards valuable use on nights and weekends for sports leagues or adult training classes?

Similarly, golf course owners might look at unused tee times as an opportunity to develop alternatives. Private clubs might open the tee on Monday and Tuesday afternoons to public league play. As tough a pill as that may be to swallow for hard core private members, the added revenue and the exposure of the course to potential future members might be the club’s long term salvation. Public courses too can embrace activities that don’t impact the regular patrons. Witness the growth of PowerPlay Golf in the UK and elsewhere. It’s not a game you’d want to play every day but it’s fun, takes less time to play and still demands all of the skill required in “real” golf.

The bottom line is that if your tee sheet isn’t full all the time, then there is opportunity to explore alternate forms of golf. As Koppenhaver acknowledges in his article, many of the non-traditional activities, once thought of as an “assault on competitive golf and an abandonment of tradition” are really feeder systems for people who might ultimately move on to playing full 18-hole competitive rounds.

As an industry, we need to stop drawing lines that exclude new concepts and people who participate in non-traditional forms of golf. To expose golf to as many people as possible and grow the game, we must learn to embrace the alternatives. Hug a miniature golfer today!