Toward the end of World War II, Sir Winston Churchill was quoted saying, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Will the golf industry take these words to heart?

According to the industry advocacy group, We Are Golf, the game has a significant impact on our economy. The industry accounts for $192 billion in total impact and provides 2 million jobs with $59 billion in wage earnings across nearly 15,000 U.S. golf facilities encompassing 2 million acres of green space, an area roughly the size of Yellowstone National Park.

Additionally, the 2019 National Golf Foundation (NGF) ‘Annual State-of-Industry Report’ notes the industry is “the No. 1 outdoor pay-for-play, individual participation sport in the U.S. and, as a result, its revenues and spending are inexorably tied to outside factors such as the weather and economy.”

Since emerging from the pandemic lockdown in May, golf has enjoyed five consecutive months of increased rounds played from the previous year. According to preliminary statistics compiled by the NGF and Front Office Sports, August and September alone accounted for nearly 22 million more rounds played than in the same months of 2019. Additionally, third quarter equipment sales exceeded the previous quarterly record set in 2007 ($852 million) by a whopping 18% ($1.005 billion)! 

The golf industry has played out this scenario before and it walked off the green with a 4-putt double bogey. Thanks to the great Tiger Woods, golf experienced a huge surge in participation and golf course development in the late 90’s that was later negated by the fallout of the 2008 recession. Since then, like looking for a brand new Titleist lost in the woods, the industry has been searching high and low for ways to grow and retain participation in the game.

With new trends like social distancing and more people spending time outdoors, the golf industry finds itself back on the tee primed for a second shot at redemption. New and avid golfers alike are experiencing the firsthand benefits of the game: the mental challenge, the social interaction, and the physical exercise. But this time around, the golf industry should focus on the most important benefit of participation and the single greatest opportunity for long-term industry health: the game’s connection to the environment.

What can the golf industry do? 

No other sport has a heavier reliance on the health and vitality of our planet than golf. With its arenas shaped by and built into the natural terrain, the game of golf in some ways provides us with a direct spiritual and physical connection to the natural world. In fact, the livelihood of the game is dependent on the industry’s ability to build awareness of the devastating effects of global climate change. 

Golf will not be immune from the existential crisis of global climate change. As it stands, there are hundreds of U.S. courses within one mile of the coast line that would be under threat of rising sea levels. While many of these courses are well above sea level (i.e. Bandon Dunes and Torrey Pines), what happens to the others (Kiawah Island or Sea Pines) built at sea level if oceans rise like they are predicted to by the end of the century? What can the golf industry do to prevent climate change from swallowing some of the game’s great courses along with the industries and livelihoods these courses support?

One possible answer to this key question lies in following the lead of our friends across the pond. This past summer, the Sky Sports Network, a subsidiary of Comcast and the UK’s largest broadcaster of English Premier League football, signed on as the 141st signatory of the United Nation’s Sports for Climate Action Initiative. More importantly however, Sky Sports Network became the first major sports broadcast network in the world to join the initiative.

The UN developed the Sports for Climate Action Initiative shortly after the establishment of two 2015 landmark climate agreements. the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The UN developed this initiative because it recognized the role sports can play in driving climate awareness and action among global citizens. The initiative establishes a cooperative framework to catalyze new and enhance existing environmental commitments from sports organizations and sets standards for verifying emission reporting in line with the Paris Agreement.

Signatories of the Sports for Climate Action Initiative commit themselves to the following five principles:

1. Undertake systematic efforts to promote greater environmental responsibility.

2. Reduce overall climate impact.

3. Educate for climate action.

4. Promote sustainable and responsible consumption.

5. Advocate for climate action through communication.

Sky Sports’s commitment further supports the network’s pledge to be net carbon zero by 2030. The broader goals of the commitment to the Sports for Climate Action Initiative includes exploring the environmental impacts of live sports broadcasting (i.e. energy use and travel) as well as sharing established industry best practices for lowering environmental impact.

But, as noted by our friends at the Green Sports Blog, the key to joining the Sports for Climate Action Initiative for signatories like Sky Sports revolves around engaging with their viewership. Principles #3 (Educate for climate action) and #5 (Advocate for climate action through communication) are vital undertakings with millions of fans unable to attend live games. Advocacy and education through the use of Public Service Announcements, digital media and advertisements from sustainable corporate partners becomes the best way to drive climate awareness and action among viewers.

Sky Sports currently reaches approximately 24 million people across 7 countries. However, the golf industry has an ace in the hole with assets that significantly outpace Sky Sports’s viewership numbers, the Golf Channel. 

The Golf Channel, a division of NBC Sports Group (another subsidiary of Comcast), is currently available to nearly 500 million viewers in nine languages across more than 70 countries and features more live golf than all other U.S. networks combined.

A commitment from the Golf Channel to join the UN’s Sports for Climate Initiative could be the catalyst the golf industry needs to join the larger sports sustainability movement. It should be noted that golf does have several Climate for Sports Action Initiative signatories including the United States Golf Association, the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open and the International Golf Federation (legendary golfer Annika Sorenstam was recently elected as their new president). But the reach of these three signatories doesn’t touch the potential influence of the sport’s signature broadcast network.

What’s in it for the Golf Channel to make this commitment? And this is an important question considering the cost-cutting moves parent company NBC made earlier this year (i.e. relocating Golf Channel headquarters from Orlando, Florida to Stamford, Connecticut and layoffs to most of its Florida-based staff) because sustainability requires capital investment and a make-over of the organizational culture.

Besides the warm fuzzy feelings of doing something good for the environment, the Golf Channel stands to gain a lot from this type of commitment.

Actions:  

1. Institute a network-wide sustainability impact assessment.

2. Commit to transparent disclosure of emissions and environmental impact.

3. Dedicate air time and programming to advocate and educate for climate action, with special focus paid to Earth Day in April and Green Sports Day in October.

4. Implement a strategic digital marketing campaign centered on golf’s environmental vulnerability.

5. Share industry best practices with US sports broadcasting networks.

Results:  

1. Opportunity to uncover and invest in new technology and innovation that will cut energy, travel and production costs.

2. First mover status allows the Golf Channel to establish the industry standard and rebrand the sport as a sustainability champion.

3. Reduced environmental impact. 

4. Increases in advertising revenue from companies and brands with similar sustainable values.

5. Broaden the appeal of the game and the network to new markets:

   1. Generation Z (anyone born after 1996): The number of new junior golfers aged 6-17 increased almost 500,000. This generation is also set to become the largest consumer base in the economy and much of their spending habits revolve around sustainability focused companies.

   2. Sustainability-minded audience: These are people passionate about conservation and protection of the planet through outdoor activities, recycling and more. If this group is spending their time outdoors in nature, why not show them they can do it with a golf club in their hands? 

Like all sports, golf should take this opportunity to reach beyond its own sustainability champions to garner mainstream support for larger climate mitigation action. If we are to meet the ambitious goals set during the 2015 Paris Agreement (keeping global temperature rise below 2 degrees C), a commitment to action must happen now. We wander onto the golf course to get away from city and suburban life but now is not the time to hide our heads in the bunkers. Golf has a unique opportunity to emerge as a sustainability leader because of its recreational popularity. The Golf Channel joining the UN’s Sports for Climate Action Initiative would certainly be the par save that turns the round in the environment’s favor.