The National Links Trust’s inaugural ‘Symposium on Municipal Golf’ was a success and to call it anything less would be short-sighted. Golf industry leaders from all backgrounds shared their stories and spoke in a unified voice that the golf industry has the opportunity, if not the duty, to capitalize on the groundswell of interest in the game over the past 18 months.

Check back soon to find the link to the recorded panel discussions.

As one of the 50 or so people that attended the symposium in person (the event was moved from in-person to hybrid attendance in early October), I’m excited to share with you the following:

• The 3 A’s of Municipal Golf

• The Role of Public-Private Partnerships

• How Technology Can Improve Accessibility

• Municipal Golf Obstacles and Challenges

• A Look to What’s Next

The 3 A’s of Municipal Golf - Activity, Affordability, Accessibility

For nearly 125 years, the United States Golf Association has been America’s longest serving golf governing body. The history of municipal golf is long and storied in our country but with many facilities under increasing pressure to provide more to their community than just a sport often seen as exclusive and a detriment to Mother Nature, the USGA is working hard to portray the possibilities of what municipal golf can offer through the 3 A’s: Activity, Affordability and Accessibility.

Dave Aznavorian, the Director of Transformational Initiatives at the USGA, kicked off the symposium with a keynote address that defined the 3 A’s through the municipal golf lens.

• Activity - A municipal golf facility is a usable asset that not only drives revenue for its community through golf rounds but also helps to create social value through workforce development, STEM education, flood prevention and food production among the many other possibilities.

• Accessibility - The value of a municipal golf facility lies in its location and the relative proximity of its green space to the residents of an urban jungle and how its location can provide outlets for exercise, connections with nature and self and break down barriers by being the initial entry point for many new golfers.

• Affordability - The notion that municipal golf can be a cost effective, family-friendly way to spend two hours together versus attending other alternative sports activities like going to a baseball or football game.

Public-Private Partnerships Are Here to Stay

The National Links Trust is one of several shining examples of how public-private partnerships can revitalize municipal golf facilities. Golf often sits near the bottom of municipality chopping blocks making them prime subjects for decreased funding or complete elimination.

Municipal golf needs community champions that understand local politics and can organize coalitions to share in the value and benefits their facilities offer their communities. These partnerships are critically important to raising the funds necessary to enact programs and initiatives that will help to build public interest and investment in the property.

Where Does Technology Fit In?

During the Symposium’s golf tournament, I was paired with two area sales managers for NBC Sports Next, which is a new fusion of products and services under the NBC Sports’ Digital and Consumer Business division that “better connects golfers and golf facilities around the world through innovative technology and services that create optimum golfing experiences.”

What I learned in my conversations during the round is that panel discussions neglected to speak to technology's role in creating more access for golfers. Why can’t we, in a day and age where we can order just about anything on an app and have it delivered to our homes within minutes, hours or days, expect the same thing at our golf courses? 

How can we lessen the digital divide and create seamless experiences for non, new and avid golfers while ensuring that facilities have the human and technological resources to meet the evolving needs of the consumer? I’m excited to see a larger emphasis on this aspect of accessibility at next year’s Symposium.

Municipal Golf Obstacles and Challenges

1. Overcoming the golf ego that says a golf course must be 18 holes. Time is a valuable and precious resource and we in the golf industry must embrace how time factors into the daily decisions consumers make when it comes to playing golf. Belmont Golf Course in Richmond, Virginia is the perfect example of a facility that is overcoming this obstacle. This municipal facility run by the First Tee of Greater Richmond features a 12-hole full length golf course, a 6-hole par-3 course called ‘Little Bell’, a 31,000 sq. ft, 18-hole putting course called ‘The Ringer’ and a new practice area that features a short game area (putting and chipping greens), a driving range and a wedge range. Since opening in May of 2021, Belmont Golf Course gives a glimpse into the future of golf.

2. The golf industry is not intentional about speaking to new golfers. Erick Mitchell, a Certified Diversity Professional and the Executive Vice President of the Washington, DC-based Ivy Planning Group who was featured in the Symposium’s ‘Growing the Game’ panel, was very blunt in saying “How do we stop talking to the same people?” He pointed out that there are a significant number of companies with vested interest in the game of golf with DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs that can provide resources to help municipal facilities grow the game of golf through intentional messaging. We should not “underestimate the power of golf to break barriers”.

3. Implementing a new initiative or changing an organization’s culture isn’t easy if a facility’s staff can’t perform the fundamentals. Change must occur on an incremental basis. Pam Smith, Director of Agronomy for the seven Denver municipal golf facilities (she proudly served on my Sustainability Panel), waited six years before implementing her oil testing program because she needed her staff to be able to execute the fundamentals of their job first before starting the program. It took another 3 years for every facility under her purview to adopt the program. Nine years is a long time to see the fruits of your labor but the effort and patience has paid off for Pam as her facilities divert about 350 gallons of waste oil per year and she saves thousands of dollars annually that she invests into other sustainability programs she manages.

What’s Next?

• PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh shared several initiatives and goals the PGA of America is pursuing to grow participation in the game and increase the diversity of their 28,000+ members.

  • Endow HBCU Golf Programs. Only about 1% of the total PGA of America membership is Black so there is a remarkable opportunity here. Waugh understands that in order to make the game marketable to Black and Brown communities, they must first see that someone who looks like them will teach them the game of golf. While I couldn’t find any news referencing this program, Waugh said the PGA is hoping to implement something similar to the endowment Steph Curry made for Howard University’s Golf Team.

  • Provide Low-Interest Rate Loans. Because there aren’t enough grants to go around for everyone, the PGA is looking into offering low-interest loans to golf courses so they can have access to the funds needed to implement many of the programs discussed during the Symposium.

  • Create Urban Golf Parks. Beginning with the 2022 PGA Championship (hosted at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma) and every year going forward, the PGA of America will build a two to five acre pitch and putt golf course within the host city’s city limits with the goal of endowing the property and turning over management rights to the municipality. This is a great idea to introduce the game to non-golfers but I would offer one very important consideration: make sure the new course is built on revitalized or reclaimed land (abandoned shopping center or old landfill) versus repurposing existing greenspace. 

• Now is the time for action. As I mentioned before, golf must capitalize on the positive momentum pushing the industry out of the COVID-19 pandemic and marry that to the burgeoning climate action movement. While the 2021 NLT ‘Symposium on Municipal Golf‘ created a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings about the future of municipal golf, it is time we get busy making things happen. Change takes time, change takes money and change takes patience. If everyone who attended the Symposium and all of you reading this blog take anything away from what was presented during the event or what was written above, let it be that there is nothing we can’t do if we all do it together. Municipal golf is something worth saving and so is our planet Earth so let’s find a way to do both at the same time.