Leaning left and then right, a young woman glides silently but quickly down the fairway on a contraption resembling a skateboard with oversize wheels, bearing a golf bag in the front. She steps off, knocks her ball onto the green and moments later is putting for birdie. The collective jaws of the foursome on the next tee drop. This is not your father’s golf cart.
And increasingly, it may not even be the game of golf your father remembers.
The past seven or eight years have been tough on golf. First came the recession, slashing disposable incomes that might have gone for greens fees. Then came the fall of Tiger Woods, who’d brought a younger and more diverse following to a game that was once the preserve of older white men.
Two statistics tell the story succinctly: Since 2003, the number of U.S. golfers has declined from 30 million to 25 million. A more chilling stat is the 13 percent decrease in golf participation among 18- to 34-year-olds from 2009 to 2013. Golf is too slow and perceived as elitist, and millennials are seeking something more fun to do with their time.
But the people who brought you the 19th hole aren’t going to let a generation of potential players slip away without a fight.
Enter innovations such as the GolfBoard. Part snowboard, part Segway, part ATV, the GolfBoard allows golfers to zip around the course in a “hang 10” crouch with a few taps on the thumb throttle. Surprisingly stable, easy to maneuver and easier on the turf than golf carts, GolfBoards are creating a substantial buzz. The GolfBoard was named best new product at the 2014 PGA Merchandise Show, and it already has been adopted at nearly 100 courses around the country, including TPC Los Colinas in Dallas and Princeville Resort on Kauai.
Tetherow, a highly regarded golf resort in Bend, Oregon, was an early adopter of GolfBoards. “We have members in their 30s and 70s alike that take them every time they play,” says Louis Bennett, Tetherow’s head golf pro. “They certainly are not for everyone, but they appeal to the new and occasional player very much. The overwhelming popular response has been, ‘I almost forgot I was playing golf, it was that much fun.’ Our play from local residents has increased over 400 percent in the last year simply because people want to come out and try them. The fact that they speed up play and attract younger players is just gravy.”
“There have been many ideas to entice people to try golf,” says GolfBoard spokesman Jim Black. “What I like about GolfBoards is, they don’t change golf. They change how you experience it by moving you around the course in an exciting manner, without disturbing the traditions of the game.”
In truth, the slow pace of play is one of golf’s greatest turnoffs for many would-be duffers. The average round takes 4 to 4 ½ hours; anyone who’s teed up on a Bay Area municipal course on a sunny Saturday knows that a round can go considerably longer. The GolfBoard speeds up play by getting golfers from tee to green faster.
CordeValle, an award-winning Santa Clara Valley golf resort, has taken a different tack for speeding play: make the course smaller. This past spring, the resort began offering 3-, 6- and 9-hole loops for players on tighter schedules — or for whom a little golf is just enough. The shorter rounds give guests “a sample of the course, while providing more time for other activities,” says Luca Rutigliano, Rosewood CordeValle managing director. And for the golf curious, CordeValle’s “Sips and Tips” combines cocktails and swing tips at the resort’s driving range.
If the GolfBoard borrows a bit from skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding to liven up a round, FootGolf and FlingGolf are more unabashed fusions of golf and other sports. FootGolf is played with a regulation soccer ball on a traditional golf course — albeit with a shortened hole and a 21-inch diameter cup. Players kick the ball toward the cup. The player with the fewest strokes — that is, kicks — wins. Hundreds of golf courses around the country have embraced FootGolf, including three in the greater San Jose area: Rancho del Pueblo, Pruneridge and Santa Teresa.
FlingGolf participants also play on golf courses, such as Pleasanton’s Callippe Preserve, though they utilize regulation length holes and normal golf balls. In lieu of a club, they deploy a FlingStick; after placing the ball in a cup at one end of the stick, players advance the ball using a motion akin to throwing a lacrosse ball. Once on the green, players push or pull the ball toward the hole with the stick’s cup end.
And if you like traditional golf but eschew human playing companions, take heart. At Graeagle’s Chalet View Lodge, you can take your dog along for a round on the resort’s 9-hole course.
There’s no word yet if the folks at GolfBoard are working on a sidecar-friendly model for links-curious Labradors — but I sense an opportunity.
Chris Santella is the author of “Fifty Places to Play Golf Before You Die.”
