Participation in golf "is way off," dropping from a high of 30.6 million players in '03 to 24.7 million in '14, according to National Golf Foundation data cited by Karl Taro Greenfeld of MEN'S JOURNAL magazine, who writes under the header, "The Death Of Golf." The long-term trends "are also troubling," with the number of golfers ages 18-34 showing a 30% decline over the last 20 years. Nearly every metric -- TV ratings, rounds played, golf-equipment sales, golf courses constructed -- "shows a drop-off." The challenges golf faces "are myriad, from millennials lacking the requisite attention span for a five-hour round, to an increasingly environmentally conscious public that's reluctant to take up a resource-intensive game played on nonnative grass requiring an almond farm's worth of water, to the recent economic crisis that curtailed discretionary spending." Callaway President & CEO Chip Brewer said, "Golf is an expensive, aspirational game, and a lot of millennials are struggling with debt and jobs. If you don't have a job, golf doesn't really fit you very well." Greenfeld writes by now, the "various attempts to 'save' golf by making the game faster, cheaper, and easier to play have all taken on an air of desperation." Most of the innovations designed to "lure younger players onto the course" include attempts to "speed up the game." Greenfeld notes "nearly everyone" at the L.A. Golf Show pointed to Topgolf "as the potential savior." Brewer: "Maybe Topgolf is our Tiger." Callaway owns just under 20% of Topgolf, the company that has "devised a simulated version of the game by putting microchips into balls at high-tech driving ranges." Players hit into the target area as a computer screen "keeps score based on how accurate the shots are." In between "drinking, eating, and listening to the house DJs, they stand on an Astroturf mat and play 20 balls." It is "golf's version of bowling." Topgolf has 13 locations in the U.S., and it "will have 20 by the end of the year and as many as 50" by the end of '17 (MEN'S JOURNAL, 8/ '15 issue).
