When the International Olympic Committee recently green-lighted golf as a sport for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero, it was a cause for celebration in the golf industry. Or at least some segments of the golf industry.
Club manufacturers, equipment suppliers and service providers associated with the development side of the business immediately praised the opportunity. They said the decision will open new markets for golf in countries where the population wouldn’t know a 5-iron from a flyswatter.
Bill Bales, chief executive officer of aboutGolf, an indoor golf simulator company, was so excited that he hailed Oct. 9, 2009 as “golf’s greatest day in its 500-year history.”
While that may be a bit over the top, Bales does have a point when it said that the decision “means the likes of China, Russia, Germany, Korea, Japan and others are going to invest more dough than is used to make a Man Versus Food pizza to create and expand organized programs to produce golfers.”
Bales, writing on his own blog, enthuses about a potential Olympics-fueled golden era for golf:
“The return of golf to the Olympics represents a shift of monumental proportions within the golf culture. In modern terms, it’s a paradigm shift, an inflection point. In anthropological terms, it’s on par with the industrial revolution.
“But such an event begets disruptive change (like with paradigm shifts, inflection points, and cultural revolutions). The game is going to change. The business is going to expand. Golf culture is going to hyper-evolve.
“Why such big effects on golf, when it wasn’t such a big deal with other Olympic sports?
“The Olympic movement is going to make golf ‘hip,’ which will make the game a bit less formal. Participants will place more emphasis on performance, and less on decorum. Spectators at events will get more rowdy (we’ve already had a taste of it at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup – ‘Ole, Ole Ole Ole’). The staid game we’ve known all our lives is going to get a little crazy.
“Don’t rule out that professionals on the PGA Tour one day will be members of teams, like NASCAR (Team Nike), wearing uniforms with large numbers on their backs. Countries getting into golf in a big way for the first time will contribute new cultural nuances surrounding the game and some will find their way into the mainstream.
“The modern Olympic movement is going to help transform the game of golf into a sport for every man. It’s going to get a bit rude, crude, and unattractive, and it’s going to be a beautiful thing.
“I can’t wait.”
How about you? Do you think adding golf to the Olympics will lead to a drastic change in the way golf is perceived, not just in the U.S., but internationally? Will it have any impact on your business?
We’d like to hear your views.