Is golf too expensive to keep young athletes involved?
Unlike some sports, golf is an activity someone can participate in for almost an entire lifetime. But like all sports, the best time to get someone to become interested in golf is as a child or teenager.
Depending on who you ask, that may be a problem.
Whereas a couple of kids can go almost anywhere to throw a football, there are only so many places that someone can go to play golf. And when they play golf, they need several different clubs to play.
That means money, and creates a concern for some local high school coaches that the sport is pricing itself out of interest by younger athletes.
“It costs too much money, and kids get interested in other sports,” Shippensburg head coach Brad Horgos said. “They may pick it up later as a pastime after college, but by then its too late [for competitive play].”
Horgos said virtually all the players he gets at Shippensburg, though not necessarily playing golf for the first time in high school, only play occasionally with with their parents and never in a competitive environment. Among the reasons Horgos cites for this is the cost of playing the sport.
“We’re not talking about stuff you might pick up at a yard sale,” Horgos said. “You go to Dick’s Sporting Goods and a starter set [of clubs] is $100 minimum. To get the golf balls, there is another $20 or $30. … When they get up to 10, 11, 12 years old, going into middle school and high school, they need more clubs and that price goes up.”
It is not just the price of the equipment that an athlete and his or her family must face. To play golf competitively, lessons are vital. Also, sometimes golf courses are too far away, adding traveling expenses to the cost.
Morgan Frazier of Cumberland Valley won the Mid-Penn girls’ golf championship on Wednesday. Are there other potentially successful golfers in the midstate who are turned off by the expenses with the sport? (Dan Gleiter, PennLive)
Even parents who play golf could have problems exposing their children to the game due to extra costs. Horgos said that sometimes bringing a son or daughter along to participate on the course would cost at least $20 extra.
“Because of expenses, they don’t bring their kids out to play,” Horgos said. “Even to just take your kids to the driving range, you’re looking at $10 to $20 for a bucket of balls.”
Golf has its price tag everywhere, but the concerns of it keeping youth away from the sport are not as widespread. Hempfield head coach John Chronister said that all of the players he gets have some competitive exposure before reaching high school.
“Whether they’ve played in junior programs or had some family member who takes them along and takes them under their wing, they’ve all been out a lot,” Chronister said.
But Chronister said that, although he routinely gets experienced golfers, the price of the sport could be keeping other athletes in the area away from the sport.
“I’m sure there are some people who, if given the opportunity, would be hooked if given the chance,” Chronister said. “Golf is like that. Some people get hooked after one or two tries.”
Having the equipment and experience in advance is crucial for high school golf teams in Pennsylvania, because there are only four days between the first day of practice and the first matches of the season.
“We don’t have the ability to teach the players how to play golf,” Chronister said. “We can tweak some things, show them how to approach certain holes and certain shots.”
Both Horgos and Chronister said that their golfers use their own clubs during high school practices and matches. Horgos said that the school district provides the course to play and practice and the balls for regular season matches.
