As for the event in Saudi, let's not be two-faced about it. Law enforcement around the globe know for a fact that HSBC (a major sponsor on tour) is one of the single biggest money laundering banks for terrorists and drug cartels. The tour also loves that sponsorship from Wells Fargo, a major player in the financial collapse of '07-'08, and a bank that has twice SINCE THEN been found guilty of ripping off its' customers to the tune of millions of dollars. Yeah. The PGA tour isn't really too picky about who sponsors them, as long as the money is right.

Cost per round and slow play. Despite what you say about putting together a "solid" set of clubs on ebay for $200.00, the reality is that those clubs will be dated, probably need re-gripped, and possibly not the best fit for the individual. I can get you a used car on ebay for $200, but do you really want that? Additionally, I just about choked when I saw a Groupon for a local (FAAAARRR from upscale) course and they wanted $50.00 for 18 with a cart - believe me, this is a 35 dollar layout if there ever was one. Also, don't think for a moment that a potential newcomer to golf won't be turned off by your publication (and others like it) who ONLY extol the virtues of $150.00 plus green fees and $500 Drivers, $300 putters, etc. You bear some of the burden for keeping up the perception of "exclusivity". Recently I completed a five year project in the Tidewater (VA.) area where I literally brought 5 guys from the nuke shop and 3 guys from the motor shop into the game, helped them get set up & fitted with decent sticks and told them pointedly to ignore the magazines and ratings, because you all get to play these course without spending a dime of your own money, which is why you've lost sight of the difference between cost and value. I'll keep bringing people to the game in my work travels while you guys keep telling them why they don't "belong" because they don't have deep pockets.

Hi Tim: Just a small add-on to your article from a UK perspective. The R&A and European Tour conspired to "grow the game" by taking The Open Championship away from the BBC (free to view) and giving it to Sky TV (pay to view), who massively out-bid the BBC. At a stroke they cut the viewing audience by 80%, but gained vast wealth ... to "grow the game". I'll leave you to decide if massively cutting your TV audience is in the interests of growing the game.
Nigel Butler

Sure, YOU could put together a decent (used) set of equipment from Ebay, but a newbie couldn’t. Similarly, I would put together a new set for $400-500, but they would be knock-offs. Newbies will go to Golf Galaxy and find out they what they want you to buy will cost over $1000.

The difficulty and cost of enough instruction to actually play the game is very high—especially for adults taking up the game. Get Golf Ready is a start, but all it really teaches is familiarity how to get into the course and familiarity with what a full swing is vs a chip vs a pitch vs a putt. It teaches very little skill.

If the PGA really wants to grow the game, they should take 10 percent of the prize money (from the top earners, not the bottom) and use it to fund free group golf lessons for anyone.
Similarly, they should make it a requirement to keep your tour card (for the top 50 percent of earners) to support golf instruction for free some number of hours per year, probably on a sliding scale based on how much your money you made (with the top earners required to give the most).
Meanwhile, Titleist could donate free clubs to courses that anyone can borrow to play, with a limit of how many times a person can borrow.
Yes, there are some kinks that would need to be ironed out of anything like this, but it would significantly lower the barrier to entry for newbies and encourage occasional players to play more often—which is what you need to do if you want to grow the game.

Tim - as an owner and an activist on various association boards, I think you have captured much of the issue. The solution is more elusive. The starting point has to be where the associations join with the owner/operators to treat them as the prime customer of their association business. I see it far too much that some associations view themselves as the central point of the game, while treating the operators as a cross between a pain-in-the-butt along with a cash machine combined with someone who should just deliver their programs with no input on the front end. I cannot blame the associations for this - they have inherited from the old golf system. But the new golf system has to embrace the key players and get them involved in the path forward. The operator understands the player. Not in every way. To the disaffected senior - there are lots of 6,000yard courses with 4 tee decks and a tee-it-forward program so that you are not playing a course too long fore your game. For the golfer who feels like an ATM - vote with your feet - there are lots of friendly courses out there wanting to listen and entertain you. There is dynamic pricing that will let you see when rates are higher or lower - you choose. As operators we are trying. But golf needs to develop a grass-roots brand that everyone will adopt and have it become a reason they are playing/more. It has to be like the frog in the pot - the golfer/consumer can't quite understand why they are playing but they can't not play!

I live in toronto canada and l am a senior. I find the majority of courses do not cater to us old guys such as no senior tees etc.when you look at 60 to 70 percent of the golfers are of senior age.all the owners should take a trip to myrtle beach to find out how to treat your patrons.i have voiced this opinion to a number of so called important people in the game. But im just a dumb old golfer with a 6 handicap also 80 years young.these course owners dont know how to grow the game.they only want your money

Golf is to expensive from the course to the equipment and takes to much time. 500.00 for a new driver 125.00 for a round of golf 5 hour rounds the industry shot itself in the foot.

Tim---

As fellow golf writer, I couldn't agree more (and in fact was wondering whether the ceaseless "grow the game talk produced the upchuck response in others the way it does in me). As for the Masters, I expressed similar misgivings in a previous post: http://theaposition.com/tomharack/golf/845/masters-mien-sends-mixed-message

Depending on where you live (I am in suburban Philly) public golf venues are still crowded on weekends, resulting in the dreaded 5 hour round. High end equipment manufacturers are charging upwards of $ 500 to 800 club for a new Driver. Yes, for one club. So, in some respects, in light of an exploding baby boomer population, the game remains in high demand. But what happens when my generation fades into the sunset? Will my kids, who are now parents, play the game? Not in its current format. While there are campaigns to reintroduce the 9 hole round back into the mainstream, there needs to be more. Today's young families are stretched too thin already with after school and other extra-curricular and academic activities. Theirs will be the first generation to have no tolerance for the time commitment their parents and grandparents gave to golf. So, it's not just that the game is hard. The game was hard long before the advent of game-improvement clubs and low spinning balls. It just takes up too much time......the narrative and solutions therein, cannot be simpler than that.

Tim, you provide a very good perspective of the broader meaning of growing the game. All too often, we hear that banner waved proudly by those who want to appear to be working for the good of the sport but clearly are just using the call to action for their own profit or products.

The Saudi event has been beaten more than any desert drum, but what got the most tiresome of all the noise was the golf pundits piling on the players as the only ones whose choices should be questioned. Soapboxes were eagerly put in place and new pages of the Thesaurus were rapidly scoured for ammo as they seized upon the no-risk opportunity to grab the mic and fire some social-media shots by pointing out the "shocking" participation of the players. Yet, in their seemingly endless hours of pontification and postering, they had not a single word about the participation in the event of golf industry sponsors - some of the same top brands and sponsors that run spots on their channel and place ads in their publication. Total silence on that, like a gallery on the 18th green. But no surprise, really. We know these guys have zero game as real journalists.