This, of course, is the pre-crash Tiger, the pre-tabloid Tiger, the pre-Tiger-joke Tiger.
The Tiger Effect, loosely defined, is the expected rush of new players to the game, players who would generate new spending at courses, new spending on equipment and golf tourism, all because of the unprecedented impact of Eldrick Woods and his place in the sports-market consciousness.
If you asked the typical golf consumer about the state of the industry, you might find most people think golf is healthy enough: new courses are being built, new equipment options are staggering in their abundance and (so we’re led to believe) their ability to improve our games.
In fact, it’s a golf boom that’s not booming. And it’s not just this lousy economy.
“The game is flat, in the Northwest and nationally,” said John Bodenhamer, “and it has been since 2002.”
The conversation with Bodenhamer, CEO-executive director of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association/Washington State Golf Association, was based on the report, “The Washington Golf Economy.”
Golf 20/20, an affiliate of the World Golf Foundation, commissioned the report, which was prepared by SRI International.
The most recent figures cited in the report are for 2007, still before the worst of the crash (the economic crash, not Tiger’s).
And while golf’s growth is flat, the game and the business it generates give it a solid place among industries in Washington. With $1.2 billion of direct economic activity (in 2007), golf sits just below seafood preparation and packaging ($1.6 billion) and just ahead of wheat production ($1 billion).
The report shows more than 29,000 Washingtonians are employed in the golf industry, the majority at golf courses and in golf hospitality and tourism.
“I think the message, and frankly it’s a pleasant surprise, is that the numbers are larger than we anticipated,” Bodenhamer said.
“But the industry is not without its challenges.”
Private golf clubs are under stress, struggling with a loss of members and additional tax burdens, Bodenhamer said.
“The perception is all private clubs are rich and elite,” he said. “The reality is most of them are struggling small businesses.”
What Bodenhamer called “Mom and Pop” public courses, particularly with no backing from a municipality, are feeling the strain.
The golf industry, here and elsewhere, could work harder at making the game and its facilities more accessible to women, ethnic minorities and the disabled, he said.
For women, who don’t necessarily see a place for themselves in the game, “the intimidation factor is huge,” Bodenhamer said. Part of the issue is the modern trend in golf design, which creates long, tough courses with ample hazards that can be imposing to any new golfer, not just women.
And they can take forever to play, particularly for newcomers, which backs things up for everybody on the course, which takes more time … time fewer people seem to want to invest in golf.
“They’re beautiful,” Bodenhamer said of newer courses, “but they just make the game hard.”
Bodenhamer said things as simple as adding ethnic-oriented dishes to golf-course food service menus and less homogeneity in golf-shop apparel offerings would make the game more welcoming to players of Hispanic or Asian heritage.
The WSGA is already taking a lead role in encouraging golfers with disabilities to play. Again, a simple thing – single-rider carts – can achieve a simple aim: removing an impediment to participation, Bodenhamer said.
“It’s not only the right thing to do,” Bodenhamer said, “it’s good for business.”
Giving back
Did you know the total of charitable giving traceable to golf in Washington approached $36.3 million in 2007?
If you want to make big dollars for your cause of choice, one sure way to do it is a golf tournament.
Some of the biggest annual recipients of golf tournaments’ fundraising are junior golf programs, such as The First Tee, the Washington Junior Golf Association and the Pacific Northwest Section of the PGA’s Junior Golf Fund.
Be a joiner
A recent column talked about the benefits of joining the United States Golf Association. One of the benefits is not membership in the WSGA/PNGA.
There’s an even easier way: just join a WSGA/PNGA member golf club, either a private club or the men’s or women’s club of a public course. When you join, you are automatically a member of the WSGA/PNGA.
There are 725 member clubs in the Northwest, according to Bodenhamer, including 270 in Washington encompassing 75,000 individual members.
That’s not bad, with or without the Tiger Effect.
