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Saudi sovereign wealth funds, private equity PGA Tour, golf content creators, amateur organization-imposed distance rollbacks, the game is in quite murky waters right now.

Anyone can tell you that.

As a PGA Professional at a club in the Northeast, the wintertime gives you the opportunity to take a step back from printing scorecards, giving lessons, and checking on pace of play, and do some thinking. 

The game of golf means everything to me, it has given me everything in my life. My career, relationships, friendships, you name it. I owe it all to the game. 

With the current landscape of the game being more diverse and wide reaching as it ever has been, I thought it would be quite interesting for you and me both to dive a little deeper to see truthfully where the game of golf currently sits compared to years of the past.

According to the National Golf Foundation, forty-five million Americans played golf both on and off course in 2023. Over twenty-six million of that came from golfers who played on a golf course, and a whopping eighteen million of those came exclusively from off course activities such as indoor golf simulators, places like Topgolf, DriveShack among many others.

Participation in golf is booming across the board, juniors, ladies, and golfers of all age groups are consuming golf activities at a rate never seen in this country. This leaves me to think, how different of a game are these people experiencing compared to when I was introduced to the game?

I was introduced to the game by my uncle and my grandfather when I was just eight years old. My grandfather, Anthony picked the game up after he retired from the Cardi Construction Corporation when he was sixty-five, and my uncle, Lenny, worked at Triggs Memorial GC as a teenager, and was a twenty plus year Metacomet member. They put a club in my hands, and I then fell in love with the game for what it was, the game. 

Today, I would imagine that is far from a typical story. Things like iPhones and social media play a large part in everything in today’s world. Another study from the National Golf Foundation shows approximately fifty million Americans being engaged with golf on social media.

With more Americans than ever being introduced to the game every day than ever before, what do you think they think of the game of golf as a whole?

The current state of the game as I see it, is generally moving in the right direction but it has some major pimples that need addressing. 

I fell in love with the game for a few reasons, the game itself, the people, and the history. 

Golf is an inherently social sport, think of the last time you played in a four ball at your favorite course. What was more memorable, the laughs or the shots? I can only speak for myself but, it was overwhelmingly the fun I had with the group that comes to mind. 

Obviously, the game of golf is also inherently fun. Think back to the shot that made you fall in love with the game, and the following months and years of such dramatic improvement that all golfers experience on some level. 

Lastly, I can imagine this is certainly different for everyone but, a big piece that made me fall in love with the game is the history. I can vividly remember reading “The Pro” by Butch Harmon in the back row of Mr. Robinson’s 10th grade history class. (Sorry Steve, I definitely wasn’t paying attention) My eyes were rarely glued to anything as a teenager that wasn’t a baseball game, but this book changed my life. 

I couldn’t get enough of reading stories about Claude Harmon Sr. and Ben Hogan, tales from Tiger’s early days, Steve Elkington, Davis Love III, the historic clubs, the monumental tournaments. It only amplified what I already loved about the game and playing golf. 

Consequently, after finishing the book that spring, I tried (unsuccessfully) to quit the varsity baseball team that spring and go all in on golf. Safe to say that did not go over too well with the team so, I finished the year out and began my career all in on golf the following spring of my junior year. I set my eyes on Class A PGA Membership, and the rest is history. 

The game that I fell in love with at the time was so pure, unstained, and polished. I cannot say the same for what we have today. 

Today, I fear that we have more people than ever getting into the game of golf and what they are seeing, hearing, and feeling is something far from the gleaming and faultless game of the past. 

The professional game is and will always be the driver of the game of golf. Tiger Woods single handedly saved the game of golf, revolutionizing the way it’s perceived and played. Do I truthfully think that the current state of the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, TopGolf, and modernized golf are good for the game? Yes, in a very basic sense. What they all have in common is they are bringing attention to the game. The more the merrier, one thing we can all agree on is that there is always strength in numbers.

I am just fearful of the endgame, long term retention of golfers, actual rounds of golf played on grass, that kind of thing. All I know is that I will be sitting right here, with you watching it unfold. 

Time will tell.   

Anthony Loiselle, PGA is the Head Golf Pro at Louisquisset Country Club in North Providence, Rhode Island. He previously served as an Assistant Pro at Fall River Country Club and John’s Island Club down in Florida. He played college golf at Rhode Island College.