The Three And A Half Foot Golfer

This little guy has an eight year old brother who is part of the First Tee group at our course. Mom is the chauffeur and while the eight year old goes off to learn the game, the little guy entertains himself on the practice green.

Sometimes he has the chopped down putter like in the picture but other times he uses a standard sized putter and when he does it's a wise idea to give him plenty of room. He grabs that standard putter way down on the shaft so when he's bent over a putt, there's about 12 inches of shaft extending behind him and it's at groin level. He has a pretty aggressive putting stroke and if that shaft makes contact with your body, no amount of stretching exercise is gonna get rid of the pain.

There are a lot of people, to include the CEO of Callaway, who say golf is a dying sport. It's hard for me to understand how that could be with all the kids that I see on the course today. Back in the early 60's, the only kids you saw at a course were carrying bags for a quarter. It's always been my contention that the sport is dying not from a lack of demand, but from a lack of access.

Golf courses are closing and others are increasing fees. New courses are more often than not, associated with resorts or housing developments and one wonders how they will fare in this down sized economy. The Plantation course at Kapalua in Maui was sold last January because it was losing money. If you can't make a buck when you charge $250 a round, something is seriously wrong with your business plan.

So I think access in the sense that there are fewer tee times available and that the cost to play is skyrocketing, is probably the biggest threat to golf as a recreational sport. But then again I could be wrong.

In a recent post on Real Women Golf, there were a number of stories regarding the treatment of women, not on the course, but in the clubhouse. In one instance a gal who had finished her round decided to get lunch at the grill only to be told that it was the Men's Lounge and she would have to eat in the much smaller and less comfortable Ladies Lounge.

OK I thought this was a bit weird but also an isolated incident at some snob club. However, that article got a number of comments from women who were experiencing the same thing at both semi private and public courses.

When did golf become the sport of Islam? How many courses do the Quakers and Shakers own? I thought this kind of separating the sexes thinking went out with polyester. You want to cut down the interest in the sport, just make it a humiliating experience for the participants and you're well on your way.

For some reason this triggered a flashback to the snottiest club I have ever played, the Carolina Country Club in Raleigh. This was in the early 80's and my father in-law (a guy I really disliked) took me and my brother in-law (a guy I really liked) to play a round.

The Carolina Club is old, old, old Raleigh money so my first thought was how in the hell did my life insurance selling father in-law get accepted to this place. The course itself (designed by Donald Ross) is fantastic but I got the sense that it was just a prop, an excuse to hang out with other self important people.

I'm certain that my egalitarian mindset made things seem worse than they were, but to me everything seemed to reek of superiority. Our crap doesn't stink and if your not a member here, yours does. Of course all the help was black and deferential. You'd call the waiter by his first name and he would answer using Mister. It's like these people were living out Gone With the Wind.

So I thought, that's been 30 years ago and I'm certain things must have changed. Take a look at their website . If you actually got in, I'd really, really like to hear how things are today.

Dinah Shore was an avid golfer. Even with her money and fame, she could not belong to a private golf club in Los Angeles simply because she was a woman. Dinah said "no problem" and bought her own course in Palm Spings and the rest is history.

So when the three and a half foot golfer is six foot, what will golf look like to him. A game that everyone has a chance to enjoy, or a throwback to the Carolina Clubs of the world?