Golf Books #156 (Golf Is Dying. Does Anybody Care?)

Golf Is Dying. Does Anybody Care The 600-year-old sport of golf was once considered a metaphor for culture, sportsmanship, and accomplishment in America. So why has participation declined so much in recent years?

The answer, according to author Pat Gallagher, is the sport’s resistance to productive change. While other sports have embraced new technology and innovation with open arms, traditionalists strive to protect the game of golf and keep it exactly as they love it—even in the face of suffering courses and shrinking audiences.

This first-hand account documents how Gallagher and his partners advocated new thinking to revive the game of golf, from both a sporting and business perspective. In January 2011, they founded the Alternative Golf Association and Project Flogton (“not golf” spelled backwards), in an attempt to challenge the leaders in golf to think differently and grow participation in the sport.

In this informative true story, readers will get a front row look at the ideas behind Alternative Golf, , what they accomplished, where they were wrong and what they now believe ought to happen in the future to reverse golf’s steady decline. In addition, you’ll find out the facts behind some of the biggest myths perpetuated by the golf industry, from participation numbers to the real consequences facing golf courses and investors.

Publication date: December 5, 2013 (source)

About the Author

Pat Gallagher, best known as the legendary marketing and “idea guy”, worked with the San Francisco Giants for more than thirty years. Famously known for using out-of-the-box promotional flair and a sense of humor to fill the seats of Candlestick Park with baseball fans, despite its notoriously cold and windy conditions. Gallagher helped revive a sports franchise by creating a new culture and actually listening to customers.

Together with fellow renegades, and amateur golfers—a successful inventor and a wealthy Silicon Valley technology icon—Gallagher founded the Alternative Golf Association and Project Flogton, with the hopes of changing the face of golf to make it more fun and relevant for “the rest of us.” This process is documented in the book Golf is Dying. Does Anybody Care?, a first-hand account authored by Gallagher himself.

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