Golf participation dropping nationwide

Mike Dudurich of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review provides these startling statistics from the National Golf Foundation:

• Participation in golf fell from 30 million in 2000 to 26 million in 2005.

• Three million golfers quit playing every year.

• Several hundred of the 3,000 new golf courses built in the United States between 1990 and 2003 have closed.

Truth be told, I was aware of the first and third findings, but not the second one.  Three million?  A scary thought.

Dudrich writes about Get Golf Ready, a nascent group that is attempting to reverse this downward trend...

The newest effort will be rolled out early next year with a low-budget, five-year plan known tentatively as "Get Golf Ready." It will be put in place at 5,000 golf facilities around the country.

The goal of the program is to attract 700,000 new golfers to play 5.7 million rounds over the next five years.

Unlike initiatives aimed at increasing participation among children, Get Golf Ready targets adults who have never played or have limited experience.

Beginners will receive a set of five lessons covering basic skills, rules, etiquette and values for $99.

Geoff Shackelford addresses this steady decline in a recent column in Golfdom.  He believes there are two ways to get golf on the right track--decreasing the time it takes to play a round and having golf executives demonstrate a clear interest in the "going green" movement.