Industry Wish List for 2007

I love the game of golf and want to see it prosper. Here's what I hope the golf industry accomplishes in 2007 to improve the game for the average amateur golfer:

Build good courses with 18 hole fees less than $35. Make courses environmentally friendly. Encourage designs that follow natural contours, disturb as little of the natural vegetation as possible. Promote links style courses over target golf. Use more pot bunkers in the US.

Speed up play so that 18 holes can be played in less than 4 hours. I suggest educating the public during pro tournament broadcasts, using course rangers, and generally shortening course length for normal play. Consider restricting tee boxes by handicap.

Build courses that promote walking. Keep greens and adjacent tee boxes in the same zip code.

Take the mystery out of club fitting and launch monitors.

Give us golf ball testing data so that we can let the data point us to a golf ball that has good distance and spin characteristics for $25 or less per dozen.

Create a website that lists private clubs by location along with their initiation fees, monthly dues, length of waiting list and application process.

Create a website that lists all the charity tournaments by location. This would make it easy for players to signup for a tournament at the private courses they would otherwise never get to play. This would also help charity tournaments fill their fields.

Encourage all golfers to keep a handicap. Enforce the handicap rules. Require handicap groups to provide the service year round. Golfers in gold climates should be able to enter their scores when they play in warmer climes during winter vacations. And, golfers should feel obligated to enter these scores.

Create statewide golfer discount cards that allow one or two rounds a season at public and semi-public courses for one annual fee. Some states used to have such things that also raised money for charity.

Build better practice facilities, focusing particularly on improving the short game.

Provide more swing and shot analysis during pro tournament broadcasts. Video analysis is particularly helpful. And sell broadcasts rights for a fee that allows fewer commercials, otherwise you're going to kill the goose that's laying the golden eggs.

Take some of the broadcast revenue and use it for introductory teaching clinics for children, women and the short game for everyone. There are plenty of good pro golfers playing the game these days, you don't need to keep fattening the purses.

Course operators, use the online tee time services to bring in players during your slack times and to generally allow more efficient booking of tee times.

That should be enough for 2007. I'll save the rest for 2008. Let me know what you'd like to see.