Why Is Golf A Dying Sport?

Why Is Golf A Dying Sport

While sports like basketball, football, tennis and cricket are insanely popular amongst the masses, golf is a sport that is barely followed and played. The numbers of golfers across the globe are dwindling with each passing year.

Why Is Golf A Dying Sport

The younger generations barely seem to show any interest in this sport. The sales of golfing products and accessories are also declining tremendously. This gradual decline in the viewing and playing of the sport has created a great amount of sadness amongst the golfing professionals and fans. If you’re wondering why is golf a dying sport, we have a list of reasons for you. Here’s everything you need to know:

People Are Always Falling Short Of Time

Short Of Time

Let’s face it, most people live utterly chaotic and busy lives. Between work and their personal endeavours, most individuals just about make it for a run or to the gym on a regular basis. Working parents just about get enough time on the weekends to complete their shopping, spend time with their children and family and just unwind. In the hour or two of free time that people get over the weekends, they tend to spend it watching television or reading.

Playing golf totally becomes out of the question because playing 18 holes of golf takes roughly around 4 to 5 hours and most people don’t have that kind of time to invest in the sport. Hence, the majority of the regular golfers across the globe are either retired individuals or they have limited responsibilities to worry about and this further results in golf dying as a sport.

Golf Is An Expensive Sport

Golf

Golf, just like fishing, can prove the be an extremely expensive sport. In order to take up golf as a sport, a person needs to invest in a golf set, golfing attire, golfing shoes, membership in a golf club and so on. In addition to these basic expenses, the golfer also has to tip his caddie fairly at the end of each game.

Golfing accessories alone can end up costing an arm and a leg and in addition to that, the average fee for golfing membership can amount to US$ 250,000. All in all, golf is not a sport that is affordable to people from all walks of life. It’s a sad truth that if one doesn’t have those extra wads of cash lying around, investing in golf accessories can become impossible. This is another reason why the sport is dying out.

Kids Don’t Find This Sport Cool Enough

kids avoiding golf

Amongst the younger generations, golf isn’t exactly considered a ‘cool sport’. Most kids strongly feel that golf is a sport for older people. In comparison to sports like football, tennis and other fast-paced games, golf is considered to be very boring and dull.

Most youngsters want to invest their free time in soccer practice, or tennis coaching or maybe even squash coaching. Even if children do have extra time after all their classes and coaching sessions, they are never keen to spend that free time to play golf and would much rather spend that time on their computers and smartphones.

Golf Requires Lots Of Patience And Practice

Golf Sport

Unlike tennis, snowboarding and other such sports, golf is a game that requires a tremendous amount of patience and practice. Golf, in general, is a very difficult game. When you play tennis for the first time, you will be able to hit a few simple drills within the first hour or so. However, in the case of golf, it can take up to months on end to get the hang of the game.

The amount of time and patience that is required to master this sport can be nerve-racking. Golf also has an alarmingly high number of 6-month quitters. All of these factors play a role in making golf a dying out sport.

Golf Isn’t Marketed And Advertised As Much As Other Sports

golf advertising

Another reason why golf if dying out as a sport is because it isn’t given as much media attention as other sports. Live golf tournaments are sparingly aired across the globe. Further, leading sports brands like Nike and Adidas rarely tie-up with golfing brand ambassadors. All of these factors play a very important role in causing the sport to lack popularity.

Public Golf Courses Are Shutting Down

public golf course shut

Due to limited demand and the high cost of the game, even the public golf courses aren’t being able to keep up maintenance and other costs. Due to this, public golf courses are shutting down and the only places where people are actually being able to play a few rounds of golf is at country clubs. Country clubs allow only members to practice on their golf courses and the membership fee in such clubs is through the roof. This is another reason why golf is becoming a dying sport.

Besides the above-mentioned reasons, golf is also dying out as a sport for a plethora of other reasons. Golf is a very formal game and people need to be appropriately dressed in order to get onto the course. The super strict dress code for golf can prove to be a real pain. When people take up a sport, they take it up with the intention of unwinding, getting a good session of cardio and relaxing. Most people want to be in their most comfortable sportswear when they are on the court. No one likes to dress up when going to play. These upright rules are also factoring into golf dying out as a sport.

Golf is also a sport that has only a hand full of women professionals. Very few women from across the globe show a keen interest in this sport. The limited female interest in this sport is also causing the sport to die out gradually. People who play the sport regularly find that they are insanely addicted to the game. Once a newcomer has crossed the 6-month mark and has settled into the game, taking him or her off the game can be an uphill task.

Also Check:

Leave a Reply