Is the Internet killing golf?

[razaar]

This guy in Chicago seems to be think it is?
https://medium.com/@RoryWHughes/the-internet-is-killing-golf-45d75dca2597#.ig4vzbt3x

[JADO75]

It's certainly made porn better

[jimandr]

No.

Slightly longer answer is that life has changed, for some people, and golf does not fit in with that change. To attribute that change to 'the internet' probably isn't accurate.

If golf was ever cool, it probably isn't at the moment, but most sports have the same problem. Certainly test cricket has the same problem.

But, similar to test cricket, it might be the very qualities that article lists, like concentration and patience, that might mean golf keeps going while other 'fad' sports and activities come and go.

Personally, I don't think golf is going too badly. People are seeing doom and gloom when they shouldn't be.

[Hatchman]

I don't subscribe to it.
Golf does not fit with the lazy need it now generation.
It's a game that takes time, patients and perseverance. None of the traits of the need it now generation.

[LarryLong]

The internet is making us all stupid, but the demise of golf is just collateral damage.

[3Puttpete]

The world has changed, golf hasn't

[thecollective]

the article presents a very general argument, many great assumptions are made. Its a boring 'us & them' argument

I think the journo should go back and sulk to his fellow members; probably at a home club like Chicago.

[BenM]

I agree with him about the negative effects of the internet on our brains and our attitudes but it's drawing a very long bow to say that's why golf is on the decline.

I do think that the time involved is one of the main reasons golf is struggling for traction but I don't think it's the internet's fault. People on average are working longer and are more time poor. Mortgage stress is more common than ever so money is tight too. Golf has the perception of being an old man's sport. So much competition for our attention, the internet is only one of them.

It's a convenient theory but it's pretty superficial.

[Grunt]

No Internet, No OzGolf

No OzGolf, No Great Friendships

Don't get so serious guys, it is not that hard.

[coalesce]

The article is a load of horse shit. Not everyone would have wanted to play golf back in some golden age in the past, and not everyone wants to play now

Yes there are issues around cost and opportunity for some (arguably not so much in Aus, but certainly the US), but blaming the Internet and smartphones is a leap based on no justification

[Ferrins]

Golf being to expensive, that's not accurate. For a basic outlay of $250 you can get a super kit like this.

Shark predator by Gregg Norman driver, #1 #3 #5 Maxfli tour special woods (steel), #7 brosnan silver bullet 2 wood (steel), #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 pitching wedge and sand wedge Maxfli tangent+ oversize.

[LeftyHoges]

"Try using an emoticon when you’ve got a 220 carry into a postage stamp with the club championship on the line."

I do. It's these ones... :shock: :smt087 :smt085 :smt009 :smt010
Then after the shot it's these ones... #-o ](*,) :smt011 :smt013 :smt093 :smt076

Very rarely is it these ones... :-) :-D \\:D/

[Dotty]

Price matching is killing golf.

Everyone wants to play a premium course for the same cost as a third rate course. This is both new players, established club members and the committees. The equipment buyers want Asian warehouse prices from local proshops and golf retailers.

The internet allows them to research this, vent their opinions and 'get support' from random anonymous people that aren't even in the same time zone.

That, plus very few today want to start at the bottom and build their way up. Then there's the 'attention junkie' that can't interact socially, but relies on the internet for their next fix.

[jimandr]

I'm going to try to take this discussion in a different direction. Why golf is in decline has been done to death, and everyone has a different opinion and different solution. If you do want to talk about that subject, go to isg, because every third thread is either about this, or turns into a discussion whinge about the future of golf.

Lets talk about how the internet has changed golf, because it has.

The world of the golf pro has totally changed, both the tournament pro and the club pro. The tournament pro has no secrets any longer. We know most things about them, and we don't swallow the myth the way they did about the stars of other eras. For the club pro, they can't make money selling equipment, or through giving lessons for the most part.

People like us get all their info from the net, buy all their equipment and (unfortunately) receive their instruction from the net.

On the other hand, the easy access to knowledge from the net makes it much easier to get into golf, and in my view, has led to golf fans being much more knowledgeable about the game than they used to be.

And, undeniably, the net has made golf cheaper, despite all the whinging about golf being too expensive. Clubs are cheaper now than they were 40 years ago, and I think the net has caused that.

[AndyP]

I blame the mods.

[Yossarian]

Man claims internet is killing golf and takes to internet to complain. Delicious.