Golf is in a Good Place!

Below are excerpts from an article that originally appeared in Asian Golf Magazine.

How many of us really remember the dark days of golf at the start of the first decade of the New Millennium? Tough economic times and a general mood of depression had many a pundit of doom beating drums and feining trances advocating the “death of golf”. Even books were written about the demise of the ancient game, but it proved difficult to bring it down. Golf dug deep and showed its resilience by keeping the dark angel of death at bay and finding a new pathway to recover and subsequently grow. During that period of depression, many golf courses shut down, rounds played saw a decline and the entire golf industry took a beating. This general state of malaise lasted through part of the second decade although there were pockets of growth in some parts of the world with Vietnam being one of the countries that recorded hyper growth especially around new golf course development. Then, towards the end of the second decade the scourge of the global pandemic hit and its impact and effect varied from region to region. While golf took a hiding in some parts of the world, North America and other regions of the Western Hemisphere reported through-the-roof sales for golf equipment and record rounds of golf played. Confusing as it may be, the golf industry has reported positive activity consistently for close on two years and this upward trend is expected to keep going. Against this positive backdrop, the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) went ahead and elected a new president. The man at ASGCA’s helm is a young professional who has been touted as one of the best brains amongst the new genre of golf architects. Besides playing a key role in designing world class golf courses, he has also been recognised for his devotion to environmental golf course design and his philanthropic commitment to educating others within the golf community.

Click here to download the full article (PDF, 8.33 MB).