Is golf too popular?

When I fell in love with golf at a young age, I found myself wishing, hoping and wanting other people to be as enthusiastic about it as I was.

"You should really play golf," I said to non-golfers.

"You should really play more golf," I said to existing golfers.

I've become (slightly) less overbearing about the game over the years...just in time to get my childhood wish.

In the last four years, I've been blown away at how much more popular golf has become. And it's not just courses and their groaning tee sheets. Golf has entered into the greater culture in a way I would not have anticipated in the late 2010s, when all the industry seemed to be really good at doing was wringing its hands and bemoaning the game's protracted decline.

Now, golf is cool. It has always been popular among celebrities, but who could have predicted Kim Kardashian would get into the game?

The global COVID-19 pandemic's unexpected golf tailwind is well documented to the point of being old news by now. Where do things go from here?

According to organizations that track demand for rounds, the answer still seems to be "up." The National Golf Foundation recently reported that as of the midway point of 2024, the number of rounds played in the U.S. was trending towards a 2% year-over-year increase over 2023's record total of 500 million.

Even before golf's recent bull market, "Grow The Game" was the de facto motto of the industry, trotted out in all settings in connection with every initiative, every tournament, every new wedge release. It was easy to be of two minds about this drumbeat. Part of me was staunchly in favor of the sentiment. I like what golf has done for me, I believe it is a force for good on both a personal and a societal level and so I think that if more people played golf, the human race would be better off.

The other part of me knows how self-serving the "grow the game" rallying cry can look. It doesn't take more than a minimally cynical streak to assume that when, say, the PGA Tour talks about growing the game, it mainly means growing its own influence. It means growing their game, not necessarily the game. Still, if you believe a rising tide lifts all boats, this can be acceptable.

But there may be no better way to argue against the Pollyanna "grow the game" messaging than the current state of professional golf. By splashing disruptive billions into the sport of golf, the Saudi Public Investment Fund-backed LIV Golf League has created a subtraction-by-addition scenario where, save for the majors, pro golfers simultaneously play for more money and less meaning than ever.

Despite the PGA Tour's best efforts to match LIV on the money front - including raising as much as $3 billion from a consortium of American investors - the Great Golf Schism of 2022 casts a lingering pall over the sport. The sickly decadence of professional golf in this era of prosperity is a far cry from the lean, ruthless meritocracy it used to hold itself up to be. Gluttony is much less endearing.

Some of that decadence has crept down from golf-the-sport into golf-the-pastime. I find myself with occasionally mixed emotions when I'm out and about at different courses and destinations. Overall, I like both the energy of crowded courses, although it is much tougher to book a tee time than it was five years ago, especially on shortish notice and particularly at destination resorts.

Numerous resorts' booking windows have moved more than a year out and we have heard reports that Bandon Dunes' lodging is essentially booked solid until late 2025. Whereas golfers used to be able to sneak out for a round or plan trips at the drop of a hat, local tee times often need to be booked a week in advance and vacations ought to be secured at least a year out.

Golf's popularity boom has brought whole other generations into the mix for tee times and room nights. I've been surprised at just how quickly my fellow Millennials and younger golfers have flooded these spaces. It feels as though the core traveling golf crowd has gotten two generations younger in just five years.

Growing pains are inevitable. Based on recent experience, my fellow thirty-somethings tend to approach golf differently than the generations that raised us. Some may have a forgotten junior clinic or two in their past, but they are mostly brand-new golfers who often don't know what they don't know, for better and worse. Disposable income, a desire to travel and the hype machine from social and other media about trendy courses and destinations has them booking nights, tee times and dinner reservations across the golf world.

With no formal system ushering them into the game, their grasp of golf etiquette is spotty at best. They're no more culpable in neglecting to care for golf courses than any other generation, but this slightly anarchic approach creates problems around pace of play. Even entrenched golfers overlook the fact that most common golf etiquette is meant to move players around a course efficiently. Newbies have little to no inkling of this, which can create bottlenecks.

At the risk of sounding like a spoilsport, it might be time for some resorts to dial back on-course alcohol sales. Golf and beer go together awfully nicely, but are double transfusions and Fireball shots at 8 in the morning really essential to an enjoyable round for guests and a healthy bottom line?

I've seen some groups so trashed coming off high-end resort courses that I find myself wondering if they see golf not as a worthwhile recreation on its own but rather as a more elaborate version of cornhole: something to occupy yourself while getting drunk. Bros, that's what the 19th Hole is for! Why not go easy on the first 18?

Still, golf's recent popularity run is, on balance, a good thing. Concerns about creeping green fees are offset by the fact that the average golf facility is financially healthier than it was pre-boom. New course development and renovation continues at a pace not seen since before the late-Oughts Recession, and while the headline facilities tend to be enclaves for the uber-rich that most of us will never see, municipalities continue to channel millions into overhauling affordable, public-good golf facilities with more of an eye on the future than ever. Putting courses and short courses have never been so plentiful. The first course my now-three-year-old ever "played" with me - The Staple at PGA National Resort - is the type of place that can both inspire and receive golf's new legions of lifelong hobbyists. I am here for it.