Coming
Together
How the USGA and State and Regional Golf
Associations—including the VSGA—can collaborate
and help golf remain healthy in the future
by KEN KLAVON
JONATHAN ERNST
PHOTO CREDIT HERE
FIVE YEARS AGO THIS FALL,
vsga.org
United States Golf Association leadership
hosted a dinner with a variety of state and
regional executive directors to pick their
brains. By the time it ended, the USGA was
convinced a colossal challenge lie ahead, but
one that could have positive impacts on the
golf landscape.
“We were, quite candidly, surprised at
the magnitude of their answers,” said Sarah
Hirshland, the USGA’s senior managing
director, business affairs. “It got our
attention. What we heard was, ‘We are
challenged, our membership numbers
are dropping, our economic situation is
threatened and declining.’”
Taking a constructive approach, the USGA
embraced the experience as a chance to better coalesce with all 117 state and regional
golf associations under its umbrella, which
includes the Virginia State Golf Association. It should be noted SRGAs are run independently from the USGA.
To paint a larger picture, there are more
than 25 million golfers in the U.S. Only 3.5
million of them have an official Handicap
Index. The USGA recognized that it was
missing an opportunity to better connect
with core and casual players.
After the boom of the 1990s, when an estimated 4,000 courses sprouted like Bermudagrass to meet demand, USGA and SRGA
membership numbers started declining.
The economy went south in the mid-2000s
and many courses closed. Additionally, with
improved technology has come distraction. Technology has splintered time values
unlike anything seen in the sport over the
past 120 years.
“People are more family-oriented, and
those guys who used to go out on Saturday,
play 36 holes and then play bridge while
hanging out in locker rooms? Those days are
over,” said Jamie Conkling, who has been the
VSGA executive director since 2006.
After the initial dinner in 2011, a special
USGA committee convened. It began compiling a collection of data and research, while
surveying every SRGA executive director.
A strategy was painstakingly borne out of
feedback and the USGA’s forthrightness of
what needed to be revamped.
Earlier this year the USGA published an
SRGA engagement model, albeit unfinished
in some areas, on www.usga.org that teases
extensive modifications. Core changes
are scheduled to be rolled out incrementally beginning Jan. 1, 2018 through 2020
and beyond.
The following revisions are: an evolved
model for the distribution of the Handicap
System through USGA-SRGA collaborations;
a new multi-purpose technology platform
to replace the 35-year-old Golf Handicap
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