Ever wonder why after watching Dustin Johnson smash a 356 yd drive you will immediately see golfers on to the golf course attempting to hit that shot? Is it because those golfers want to play like a PRO?
The answer is usually Yes.
Are there other reasons for amateurs to want to play at a pro-level?
Here is what I found to be a few reasons.
There have been many times I have played with golfers who play near to a professional golfer’s skill level and eventually we tell me they feel pressured to play at their level. There are many times over the years where the pro-level golfer will ask me if he could play ahead of me since my inability to play at his level is interfering with his play.
So, if you want to be able to play with a player who plays at a pro-level, there is pressure to learn to play at their level so you are not looked down upon.
There are people who strive to play at a pro-level who just never get there. so instead of going to golf school to learn how to improve they Quit golf altogether.
Not only do they quit golf they start talking bad about golf.
Being pressured to be good at playing golf can help a golfer who is determined to become good. But, for most people who are starting to play golf today generally are not that dedicated to being skillful. Most beginners only want to hit a golf ball a mile.
So, a pro-level golfer might be impressed with someone who can drive the ball as long as they do…but will they be impressed with their next shot when they hit it out of bound? Probably not!
Add to what golf on TV does to the pressure to play at a Pro-Level.
Golf televised is for most non-golfers the only exposure they have to golf. The professional golfers make playing golf look so easy. So many first-timers to golf will go to the golf course thinking they are automatically going to play like a pro.
When they find out they can’t…it usually results in them quitting golf.
Then what do they do?
Those frustrated golfers will quit trying to learn to play golf and immediately start talking bad about golf…and anyone who plays golf.
I hear from business executives..both men and women..who tell me they do not like golf because when they play it makes them look bad and in their business, they can’t look bad. They feel if they are not able to play at a Pro-Level that anything less will make them look bad.
Then you have the golf courses…private and public..who push golfers to play faster so the golfers behind them who can play at a pro-level can play without hesitation.
The pressure to play at a pro-level really is not helping golf grow.
The beginner golfer today, who has ambitions of playing as well or better than one of the pros playing on the tour today, will quickly realize that playing at that high of skill level does not come about from around on a mini-golf course.
It is fun to watch the pros play golf on TV. Not sure it would be so much fun to watch someone like me play golf on TV, so I can understand why they only show the best.
However, what the media is doing is focusing so much on the best golfers that they are the only golfer many new golfers first see.
I don’t think I have ever heard from anyone who said they were so impressed with how a golfer they watch on their home golf course shoot 98 that it made them want to go out and invest $3000 in all the equipment needed to learn how to play golf.
And, I probably never will.
However, I have heard from a dozen or so former golfers who told me they gave up playing golf because they did not have the time or funds to spend learning how to play golf as well as they wanted. Again, the marketing of Golf as a game for the most skillful is not helping to grow golf.
What is the solution? I am sure there are several. Hopefully, I will be back with a few.
Until then, let me know how I can help.
