The Pellucid Perspective - January 2015 - (Page 20)

THE LAST WORD WHIP it good? E arlier in this issue, in his article which alternately hailed and critiqued GoDaddy.com founder Bob Parsons for his announced intention to create sets of "Ultra premium" golf clubs, our publisher Jim Koppenhaver applauded the timing of the announcement for rescuing him from his own procrastination in settling on a topic for this month's article. Sadly I have received no such salvation, so I'll subject you to my thoughts on a variety of snippets - and one unsubstantiated rumor - that have caught my eye. On page 7 of this issue, I reviewed the progress of several recent efforts to reverse golf 's participation decline. Two, Hack Golf and the U.S. Recreational Golf Association, are to varying degrees crowd-sourcing initiatives designed to make the game more fun, either through a more relaxed set of "rules," including equipment that does not conform to USGA regulations (USRGA) or any of hundreds of ideas, some thoughtful and some completely off the wall (Hack Golf ). The third, the PGA Junior League Golf program, is a much more mainstream strategy for stimulating play among juniors. Not surprisingly, the more traditional approach, borrowed though it may be to a degree from other organized youth sports, has been by far the biggest success thus far. Then, no sooner had that article gone winging to our magazine designer than what should appear but yet another non-traditional, to say the least, version of "golf." A release in the January 12 issue of The Golf Wire announced the debut of something called WhipGolf, which apparently involves throwing a golf ball with the aid of a WHIP shaft and a head attachment modeled loosely on a lacrosse stick head. WhipGolf CEO and Founder Curt Evans claims that the concept received tacit approval from the World Golf Foundation's Golf 20/20 mention of "throw golf " as a potential positive initiative for impacting the golf industry. Can't say that I remember that, although many of the proposals espoused in Golf 20/20 are forgotten, or forgettable. Evans confidently predicts substantial buzz around his booth when he debuts the product at next week's PGA Merchandise Show. It remains to be seen whether that buzz will emanate from bees hoping to be among the first to taste the sweet profits from WhipGolf ... or flies drawn to, well, we know what flies like. Actually, there's a teeny tiny brain cell that's urging me not to condemn even such a radical departure from the club and ball version of the game as WhipGolf. There is, after all, FootGolf, which 20 The Pellucid PersPecTive seems to be steadily growing on golf course operators and FootGolf enthusiasts, and involves neither golf clubs nor a golf ball. On the other hand, I always thought that in the right circumstances, due to the difficulty golf has had in reaching the growing Hispanic demographic and the hundreds of thousands of kids and young people involved in soccer, if golfers, course operators and FootGolf customers could co-exist, there was some potential there. I'm not sure such a logical marriage is possible with WhipGolf, although from my experience, there may well be millions of dog owners, a large number of them women, who are already proficient and accustomed to tossing a ball to Rover with implements that sound very much like WHIP equipment. And, hey, WhipGolf has its own federation, the Federation for International WhipGolf, its own rules and its own web site, www.FIWG.org, so it must be legit. (Oops, not necessarily, as you've discovered if you've read Harvey Silverman's article about FootGolf and, more to the point, its imitators, on page 2 of this issue). Heard it here first? We're not generally in the habit of publishing unsubstantiated rumors here at The Pellucid Perspective, but this one comes from a good source - a long-time golf industry insider buddy of mine who was drinking and watching football in a bar with the guy who told him. (A highly placed source indeed - what could be more reliable). In any case, the "scoop" was that Golf Channel icon and PGA Tour commentator David Feherty has been tapped to take over the vacant Andy Rooney show-ending segment on "60 Minutes." My source went out for a cigar to accompany his next Scotch and didn't find out what, if anything, that bodes for Feherty's show on The Golf Channel or his on-course reporting gigs, so that will have to wait for official announcements, if any. It would be interesting to see how he does, although it would probably take a while for a general, nongolf-specific audience to become familiar with his persona and background - born Irish, Ryder Cup player, reformed alcoholic, current U.S. citizen and ardent supporter of the military, etc. It's not a quantum leap to think that he might be great in Rooney's old chair, though. As mentioned, I really can't lend the full weight of my journalistic integrity to the story, but if it turns out to be true, you heard it here first. If it doesn't, hey, I told you my guy was in a -Jim Dunlap bar, didn't I? It remains to be seen whether that buzz will emanate from bees hoping to be among the first to taste the sweet profits from WhipGolf ... or flies drawn to, well, we know what flies like. January 2015 http://www.GoDaddy.com http://www.FIWG.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - January 2015

TOC
The FootGolf faceoff
What do GoDaddy.com and golf have in common? Now, Bob Parsons
Hack Golf initiative dormant, but not dead, TaylorMade says
Industry shows registering exhibitor upticks
State of the Industry preview: It’s not all bad news
Andrew Wood: Legendary indeed
December golf weather impact: Santa Claus came to town
Operators find hearts in San Francisco
Pebble Beach Resort adds TaylorMade as brand partner
WHIP it good?

The Pellucid Perspective - January 2015