Letter from the Publisher

Some optimism for 2020

One of the most interesting 90 minutes each year at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando is the annual State of the Industry presentation by the golf industry analysts with Pellucid, led by Jim Koppenhaver.

It is almost always a sobering session where the wild predictions of industry cheerleaders such as the National Golf Foundation and Golf 20-20 are doused with a bucket of cold reality and we all take stock of how to continue to thrive in a business that has lost nearly eight million golfers and well over 1,000 golf courses in the last 15 years.

In 2019 in the U.S. there were 19 new courses whch opened and 103 that closed. Pellucid has pretty good figures on the ones that opened but I suspect there are some out-of-the-way courses that closed of which they are unaware. We run into that each year when compiling the updated listings for this Directory and Travel Issue. Not only are we losing high profile public courses such as White Hawk in Bixby but it is the closing of more modest courses in smaller markets that may be the only course within 60 miles that really hurt the game. We have seven fewer golf courses operating in Oklahoma in 2020 than we did in 2019, including public courses in Hugo, Muskogee, Coweta, Sallisaw, Healdton and Warner.

Losing a course you love is tough and I feel for all those throughout the state who can no longer play on a course they have come to love and appreciate. The privately-owned public course model has been hard pressed, particularly in a year with record poor weather.

However, for the health of the game, Koppenhaver wishes more courses would close, as he notes that supply still exceeds demand particularly in metropolitan areas and will for the foreseeable future though the gap has narrowed.

The SOI actually sounded some encouraging notes this year. Despite bad weather in much of the country (such as our record rainfalls), the rate of players leaving the game has decreased, revenue is actually up and rounds were fairly steady. The municipal course dilemma is one taking place nationwide, Pellucid noted. As police and fire departments consume more and more of a sales taxbased municipal revenue stream, does a city decide that it wants to continue to maintain public golf if that requires an annual subsidy and periodic infusions of money for capital improvement projects? In Oklahoma, the answer in Oklahoma City and most municipalities is that golf is worth it and part of the fabric of a successful community, like a zoo, parks, or other recreational facilities. In Tulsa the support has not been there. We’re going to continue to press for a positive solution there.

Just outside the room where the presentation takes place, the PGA Merchandise Show was in full swing with miles of booths showing off apparel, equipment, bags, jewelry, training aids, carts, range finders, luggage, simulators, travel opportunities, pain relief and much more to thousands of pros and media. Golf is an $84.1 billion industry affecting nearly two million jobs.

Fortunately here in Oklahoma, we have a lot of dedicated stakeholders with the PGA, the Oklahoma Golf Association, the Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association and other groups working hard to improve access, make the game economical, welcoming and fun for everyone from kids to millennials to seniors and continue to introduce the game to new players of all ages.

Golf is going to rebound as a new generation discovers that there’s nothing wrong with the game being a challenge, that challenge is part of its allure and what brings you back each week. Now in my sixth decade I still expect the next round to be my best one yet. And each year I take greater pleasure in pushing myself in competitive play, puzzling out the inherent challenge of each course in casual play and in the company of my friends.

There is no other game that comes close to golf in what it offers. To all those who give so much to the game in our state, here’s hoping that 2020 is a great year and the beginning of a sustained growth period for the game.

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE OKLAHOMA GOLF ASSOCIATION Volume 10, Number 1

Golf Oklahoma Offices Southern Hills Plaza 6218 S. Lewis Ave., Ste. 102 Tulsa, OK 74136 918-280-0787 LIKE US! FACEBOOK.COM/ GOLFOKLAHOMAMAGAZINE

Oklahoma City Office 405-640-9996

Publisher Ken MacLeod ken@golfoklahoma.org

FOLLOW US! @GOLFOKMAGAZINE

COO/Marketing Director A.G. Meyers agm@golfoklahoma.org

Art & Technology Director Chris Swafford chris@golfoklahoma.org

Subscriptions to Golf Oklahoma are $15 for one year (five issues) or $25 for two years (10 issues). Call 918-280-0787 or go to www.golfoklahoma.org.

Contributing photographers Rip Stell, Bill Powell

Golf Oklahoma PGA Instructional Staff Jim Woodward Teaching Professional, Oak Tree National jwoodwardgolf@sbcglobal.net, 405-348-2004

Jim Young Teaching Professional, River Oaks CC 405-630-8183

Cary Cozby Director of Golf Southern Hills Country Club ccozby@southernhillscc.com

Tracy Phillips Director of Instruction, FlyingTee vt4u@yahoo.com, 918-352-1089

Maggie Roller Director of Instruction, Cedar Ridge CC maggie.roller@sbcglobal.net, 918-261-1441

Jerry Cozby PGA Professional jerrycozby@aol.com, 918-914-1784

Kyley Tetley, PGA Professional The Golf Studio 918-232-6564

Oklahoma Golf Association 2800 Coltrane Place, Suite 2 Edmond, OK 73034 405-848-0042

Executive Director Mark Felder mfelder@okgolf.org

Director of Handicapping and Course Rating Jay Doudican jdoudican@okgolf.org

Director of Junior Golf Morri Rose morose@okgolf.org