april 22, 1995 -...

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY FORUM

DAMON HACK: Thank you and good morning, I'm Damon Hack and it's great to be with everyone at the 60th PGA Merchandise Show, my first one. I've been doing live television for about six months now but public speaking is actually pretty new to me.

We have an esteemed panel and I know we are going to have a very lively and entertaining discussion for you on the state of the game and the state of the industry and the game of golf, as we look ahead to 2013.

Joining me to my left, the recently named 38th president of The PGA of America, he named Tom Watson as the next U.S. Ryder Cup Captain for 2014; he is also a friend of the Morning Drive program. He is Mr. Ted Bishop.

To his left, from The First Tee to the FedExCup to the Olympic push, this panelist has led with tremendous vision both in terms of the game's health and its charity. Please welcome PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem.

Next up is a man who has steered the LPGA through turbulent times and led it to calm waters. His energy and leadership in terms of player/sponsor relationships has led the LPGA to maybe its greatest global strength in years. He is LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan.

Next up is a man who has been in charge of five of the last six victorious Ryder Cup teams -- can you see the smile on his face? He did recently name Paul McGinley as the 2014 European Ryder Cup Captain. Please say hello to European Ryder Cup Director, Richard Hills.

Next up is a woman who is one of the fiercest competitors the LPGA has ever seen. She also happened to make the smoothest transition from being a player to a broadcaster that I have ever seen. She now has a new role as a PGA board of director member. Please say hello to Dottie Pepper.

Next is a man whose company continues to lead and innovate from the bubble shaft to the R Series drivers, to the RocketBallz line of drivers and woods. He also likes his deep fried turkey every April at Augusta National. Please say hello to CEO of TaylorMade, Mark King.

Next is a man who in two years has helped transform the Golf Channel with innovation and leadership and he also happens to be the first boss I've ever had who is younger than I am, which is very difficult for me to say. Please welcome Golf Channel president, Mike McCarley.

Next there's a man who if there's any discussion on data, research, playability, business, he also happens to be a bit of a YouTube sensation. He is national Golf Federation president, Joe Beditz.

Finally a man who is a giant in golf media. I happened to share a Masters media shuttle with him this past Masters. I've been reading his magazine almost as long as I could read for 25 years. He has been the editor of Golf Digest. He is Jerry Tarde.

Well, we have lots to get through in this 90-minute discussion, I think we should start with PGA president Ted Bishop.

First of all, congratulations on being name the 38th president, you have been bold in your short tenure so far naming Tom Watson as Ryder Cup Captain and you have a new leadership team to work under you. What can you tell us about 2013 and what you are looking forward to most this year?

TED BISHOP: I think the biggest charge The PGA of America is faced with right now is player development, trying to grow the game. Figuring out way that we can make the game more friendly, more inviting to all of our amateur customers, and I think that's the primary focus, really, of my two years as president.

I do want to take a minute on the behalf of The PGA of America to thank all of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to be with us here today. This is an idea, concept, that Pete Bevacqua and I talked about hopefully being a permanent fixture at the PGA Merchandise Show.

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This should be a forum where we are on the cutting edge of all the topics and all the things that are important and pertinent in the sport today and I think that's what this is going to be about, and I would be remiss on behalf of everybody of The PGA of America if I didn't say thank you for being here.

DAMON HACK: Commissioner, you recently kicked off the 2013 season in grand style, Dustin Johnson, Russell Henley and Brian Gay, your first three winners on the PGA TOUR schedule and you also just came back from San Diego and a very interesting TOUR policy board meeting; USGA leader Mike Davis was present, O imagine that anchoring was a topic of discussion.

Can you let the audience know where we stand on the issue of anchoring in your mind in terms of where it fits with the PGA TOUR?

COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: No, I really don't want to talk about that. (Laughter)

DAMON HACK: I believe you. COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: Well, before

I do answer your question, let me just quickly mention that the PGA TOUR Wives Association has a booth right over here on the other side of this curtain and they have just published a new book called Fairways and Greens which is a pictorial and written description of a lot of PGA TOUR players, wives and their families and all of the proceeds go to PGA TOUR Wives charities. It's a $50 book and it's on sale today for 30 percent off and 45 percent for PGA members. So I would get fired if I didn't make that plug, because as we all know, the PGA TOUR wives run the PGA TOUR, but please go over and take a look at it, I think you'll find it interesting.

Secondly, let me thank Ted for the invitation to be here. Our relationship with The PGA of America is extremely important. I want to compliment Ted and his staff for all the work they do in The Ryder Cup, the PGA Championship, the Senior PGA that showcase our players, but also the show here this week, I had an opportunity to go around, Ted, is fantastic again this year.

We have had this ongoing discussion about anchoring at a time when we think it's a terrific time for golf. The PGA TOUR is doing great. We had I think the best year in our history last year.

But as I said a couple weeks ago on the Golf Channel in Hawai'i, as Commissioner, I hate to see distractions, and so from that standpoint, I don't like this discussion.

However, I recognize that the people at the USGA and the R&A who feel strongly about this have the best interests of the game at heart and I think the people that feel strongly that we should not go down this path have the best interests of the game at heart, as well.

I think it's a tough issue for our players who are mixed, and for the other golf organizations, simply because this is part of the game that's been around for a long time. It's been around for 40 years. If the decision had been made in 1965, 1966, no, we don't want anchoring in the game, obviously it would be a no-brainer.

But you are affecting a lot of amateur players and a lot of players at the elite level who grew up with it. So those are the kind of things that make it a controversial and somewhat difficult issue.

We are going through our process now. We heard from our players the other night, we are talking to our Players Advisory Council. Ted serves on the PGA TOUR policy board, so we'll be looking at this issue over the coming weeks together to some extent, and I just hope we can have a cordial and very positive conversation among individuals who may differ on the details but have the game of golf at heart and I hope we can maintain that posture.

DAMON HACK: Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Whan, and before I continue, I imagine we'll be discussing anchoring quite a bit with this panel as we go forward throughout the morning.

Commissioner Whan, the LPGA Tour season will kickoff in March, you have a very popular range Player of the Year in American Stacy Lewis, the first American to win that honor since 1994 in Beth Daniel.

Do you see more events down the road in the United States or is the future of the professional game on the women's seed I've seas?

COMMISSIONER WHAN: I can't help myself, we start in February in Australia, we go Australia, Thailand and Singapore to start and then we come to the States, which is a little bit of an answer to your question.

I think the good news about women's golf right now is the opportunities are borderless. We have added Beijing this year but we also added Dallas and the Bahamas. I'm proud to say we have added eight events in the last two years and six of them have been in North America, two of


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them have been overseas. We added the Australian Open and this year we are going to add Beijing. I always said that I think we have a responsibility in the women's game given that literally these players are coming from around the world and as a result our fans are coming from around the world. We have sponsors from around the world. We have a responsibility to go.

My father used to say, you can't be global from your desk, so we have to go. When we go, we think we are helping to grow the game in some small way. So the other thing I would say is all of these players, despite where they have come from, 99 percent of them, as Dottie knows, moves here to be part of the LPGA Tour and they want to be here, as well.

So despite where they are from they want more of a U.S. base. We have seen in the last 24 months, a renewed commitment to build a home base and to have a strategic -- like Beijing, when Beijing comes calling, it's hard to close the door because that's where billions of fans, not just millions of fans, can and will reside in the future.

We are excited about our global schedule. But to your point we have made a renewed commitment over the last two years and we'll make sure that continues to make sure we don't become nomadic, a group that always plays but you don't know where they are, we are playing over here but strategically adding overseas when we think it makes sense.

DAMON HACK: European Ryder Cup Director, Richard Hills, you had a very exciting last couple of weeks. Paul McGinley, an exceedingly popular player, named Ryder Cup Captain for 2014. He was a three-member of the European Ryder Cup Team and a two-time Vice Captain on The European Ryder Cup Team, and it looked like you had a very positive start in Abu Dhabi last week, Jamie Donaldson beating Justin Rose in an exciting event overseas. We talk so much about growing the game in the United States, what are the challenges you think to growing the game in Europe?

RICHARD HILLS: Damon, thank you, and first of all can I say congratulations to Ted and thank you for putting together a tremendous show here and all of the guests from around the world have been made most welcome, thank you to you and your staff, tremendous effort, thank you.

Yeah, Paul McGinley has assumed the baton from José Maria, a very good tournament committee in Abu Dhabi, chaired expertly by Thomas Björn. So the players came to that

consensus decision without any votes where Paul was offered the captaincy and accepted.

In his speech in his press conference at the conclusion of the meeting, he mentioned the work of the golfing union of Ireland. We work very closely with the amateur bodies throughout Europe developing the game and working closely with the R&A and all of the amateur bodies around Europe.

The Ryder Cup itself in Scotland will see a program called 'ClubGolf' where it's the ambition of the First Minister of Scotland to ensure that every child under the age of nine receives three free golf lessons.

So these are the sort of initiatives that we are working on, and also involving golf in national curriculums, which we started in Wales where it's woven into the curriculum of education. That will be repeated in Scotland; so every child, golfer or non-golfer will be exposed to the game of golf. That will be an example of one of the initiatives that we are working on and sharing with Ted and his staff at The PGA of America.

DAMON HACK: Thank you, Richard. And one of the newest PGA board of director members is Dottie Pepper. We often hear the story, tell your buddies, if you are in a dark alley, I want Lawrence Taylor with me; but I think I want Dottie to have my back if I am ever in a tough situation.

She was a tremendous player, fiery competitor and incredible announcer. And I want to repeat, to see her going from being such a tenacious player to being a tremendous analyst for NBC was a great run and I know you're going to be great in your new role and one of the things you're bringing to the PGA is a passion for the development of the game among junior golf.

What do you see are the key areas for growth of the game for juniors in 2013?

DOTTIE PEPPER: Damon, thank you, but was that a challenge.

First of all, I'd like to thank Ted for calling me last summer and asking me to be part of this new wave of The PGA of America.

As a little bit of a backstory, I wouldn't have gotten the start I had in the game without The PGA of America and specifically the northeast New York section with Derek Sprague sitting here, the current vice president from our little section, the smallest of all.

I came from a pretty average background and my parents didn't have the money to let me go play golf and certainly play on a national level and


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be exposed to do what I would need to do ultimately have a college scholarship. And back in those days, if you won your section championship, they paid for you to go to the National Championship. So I had a great debt to pay. It gave me my start. That's my background.

And Mike (turning to Mike Whan) what you have done in two years, not only to the schedule, people look at the outer part of the LPGA as a schedule, but I think more importantly, it's what the girls now believe in themselves again and they have a great respect for you, so I thank you for that.

But the things that I see, the committees I'm on at The PGA of America that seem to be very interwoven are making the game more fun, making it faster, making it much more friendly. And it's not just for the players who play but for those who are trying to bring back into the game and get into the game to begin with.

But I want to throw out this other 'F' that I've come up with, and I think the word is more of a fraction. It's okay to play a fraction of the golf course. You don't have to spend all day out there. It doesn't have to be an entire day's commitment to get the impact of golf and have it stay with you for such a long time. What's wrong with playing three holes, playing six holes, playing nine holes?

I think the golf experience is what we are looking at, and that doesn't have to be an all-day commitment in a fast-paced world.

DAMON HACK: Thank you, Dottie.TaylorMade CEO, Mark King, unveiling the

RocketBallz line of clubs at last year's show. I have a 3-wood in my bag. I hit a 270-yard 3-wood downwind to ten feet on a par 5 and at Annika's Invitational last week. So I'm a believer in that 3-wood, I tell you that. It was downwind, 270 yards, just for those keeping score.

Just for those keeping stats on this discussion. Mark, you also starred in 'Undercover Boss' on CBS. Last year was a banner year for rounds of golf played, up six percent and we don't know whether it was due to weather, participation, people coming back to the game; how do things set up for 2013? Do you think we'll see continued growth?

MARK KING: Well, Tim started this, there's a small booth at the end of the hall, it's a fairly large hall and the booth really skinnies down, and there's drivers on sale there for everyone here at 35 percent off, and then for PGA pros, 45 percent off. So when you buy the book, just walk

right on down and get yourself a driver this afternoon.

So thank you for starting the promotional part of this program, Tim.

What was the question again? COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: When it

comes to marketing and sales ... MARK KING: And I want to say one thing

about Mike Whan, too. He worked at TaylorMade and we really struggled in 90s when Mike was in charge of marketing and he left to become a Commissioner, a non-revenue producing job and you've done a hell of a job as Commissioner, Mike. Just want you to know that. And ever since you left, our business has just skyrocketed.

Yeah, 2012, round played were up six percent, which my friend here told me that was about 30 million rounds more than 2011. Unfortunately, we are still at about 465 million rounds played when the high watermark was right around 520 million rounds played in 2001.

So we are still way, way behind where the industry was ten years ago, so I think we have a lot of work to do. That being said, 2012 was a good year for equipment and 2013, I think the participation here is wonderful.

I think people again, are thinking about buying equipment. I think it's changed a little bit. It's more around what's the hot product and what are people talking about and what's resonating at the consumer golfer level.

So I think the way we market products today is a little bit different than it was four or five years ago, so I think there is great opportunity for all of you who are running golf shops that 2013 should be a better year than 2012.

DAMON HACK: Golf Channel saw explosive growth over the past year as integration with NBC Sports came full circle. It's the fastest growing network on television and it just came off its most watched year in 2012. Golf Channel president, Mike McCarley, 'Boss,' what are some of the most exciting platforms in 2013 we should focus on.

MIKE McCARLEY: Thank you for a great week and also for facilitating this forum for us to discuss the issues of the game. It's probably long overdue, but also can hopefully some good and some positive things can come out of it.

Innovations, I think from a Golf Channel standpoint, when I got here from NBC two years


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ago, what we tried to bring was an absolute laser focus on quality in every single thing that we do.

Our viewers have responded in record numbers by watching in numbers that they never have before, and we want to continue to produce the highest possible quality content that we can, and I really think that the key is that we remain authentic to the game every show, every product is authentic.

As we look at innovation and technology, and where the world is going, you want to be able to consume content on any device, any time, anywhere, and we all have a phone or smartphone in our pocket with us, sometimes that's the best screen that's available to consume content. Sometimes it might be an iPad or tablet.

The best experience is generally when you're sitting at home with your family in front of a big HDTV screen with a refrigerator not too far away, but we want to be on all of those devices no matter where you are, and so you as a consumer can make that choice as to how you're going to consume golf content.

We are working very closely with the PGA TOUR and our other partners, LPGA Tour, in rolling out live streaming video. We have debuted it the last couple of PGA TOUR events with Comcast. We are going to roll it out with other cable and satellite providers over the next few weeks and months.

So it will be available to everyone to watch tournament golf live on any device that you choose. And I think when you think about golf on a Thursday and Friday afternoon, most of the people who want to watch golf traditionally don't have a television in their office. But because of the streaming now, you can now watch golf, or you will soon be able to watch golf in your office on your computer on Thursday and Friday.

Now I think for all of you who are in the business of golf, the workplace productivity will now go down, but ratings and viewership of tournament golf will go up. And in the spring, we'll roll out a TV everywhere product that will allow Golf Channel to be consumed, not just tournament golf, but the entire channel, to be consumed on any device anywhere, any time, and I think that's probably the most exciting thing, not only facing the media but also that we have got on the horizon that is going to be a real kick-start and help turbo-charge golf media consumption in the years ahead.

DAMON HACK: Next to you, National Golf Foundation CEO Joe Beditz, you are known for

your perspective; scheduled to release a highly anticipated participation study in April. Are there any trends you expect to see emerging in the golf industry?

JOE BEDITZ: Thanks, Damon and thanks again for having us involved here with the program.

The biggest trend that's going to really be affecting us is the general economic recovery that's going on in the country. We have got the housing market coming back and oil industry are coming back, and those two industries have led the U.S. economy out of recession in virtually every recession for the past 30 or 40 years.

We are seeing those things recover now, so that economic trend, along with the trend that golfers are feeling a little better about their own personal net worth. They took some major hits in 2007 and 2008 with their stock market and retirement accounts and with their housing values, and that put a shudder right through the golf industry, and that is starting to dissipate as this recovery continues.

So we had a good year this year, rounds up were primarily because of weather, but also the economic effect for sure, and I expect there was an increase in participation. We will know in about another month when the data comes in in 2012. But I think that I would not be surprised if we saw more golfers last year, certainly the same number of golfers playing more rounds, we know that.

Going forward, I think those trends are likely to continue, I'm optimistic that this is going to be another good year for equipment. It will be difficult to match what we did last year on rounds played. The weather cannot get much better. We had terrific weather for golf and very bad weather for corn; so we had lots of golf rounds and very little corn. So I hope the commodities people are watching these predictions here.

DAMON HACK: And last but not least, Jerry Tarde, CEO, chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Golf Digest. In your latest editorial you discussed bifurcation and anchoring. Can you give your thoughts on both, please?

JERRY TARDE: Thanks, Damon. I was interested to see the Commissioner's remarks earlier this week when he announced that bifurcators will now be eligible to serve in combat in the military. It's on the table.

I think bifurcation is a subject that most of us don't like for almost all of my life in golf. I've been opposed to it. What I am not opposed to is


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putting on the table. I think the U.S. Open at Merion this year is a catalyst for conversation.

I tend to look at everything these days through two prisms. One is time and the other one is water. I think evidenced by the Water Summit that the USGA put on a couple months ago, it is becoming tsunami that is going to hit the game. And I know of many courses across the country, particularly in California, Nevada that are feeling it now. There are some clubs that are putting thousands of dollars of assessments on each member. If that happens on a more widespread basis, it will affect the game like nothing we are talking about right now.

So I think water needs to be an important subject. Now, does it affect -- how does it affect bifurcation? Some people say it doesn't, but I think as the footprint of golf, Merion is a 100-acre facility, there are not many of those being built these days, or have been built in the last 20 years. The game takes up more space. So I think we have to be talking about how we are using water and that affects people's expectations of what golf is, and that kind of circles back to anchoring.

Is anchoring golf? I think a lot of these subjects we're dealing with revolves around that question, and I think it's not just a question that can be answered in Far Hills, New Jersey. It should be discussed all over the country. I know our associations here are all discussing it with their members and I think that it's a challenge.

The USGA is certainly acting in what they think are the best interests of the game are, but their predecessors, great traditionalists like Joe Dye and P.J. Boatwright studied this issue and said it with as okay. I think it's a tough subject and the conversation isn't over.

DAMON HACK: Before we open to questions, I'd like to hear everybody's thoughts on bifurcation, a topic that's not going away any time soon.

Ted, why don't we start with you, you've been on our program in Morning Drive. You've talked about the issue, but let the audience hear some of your thoughts.

TED BISHOP: I think it's timely that we are having this discussion, but this afternoon The PGA of America will release an online survey to its membership on this subject and it will be very similar to how we handle the anchoring issue.

I think that our new leadership team decided several months ago that we were going to try to govern from the bottom up, and this will be very consistent with how we handled anchoring

and we are interested over the next several days to see how our members feel on this.

So I'm going to really reserve my comments, Damon, until the results of that survey come in mid-week and I'm sure we'll address it publically the following week.

DAMON HACK: Commissioner Finchem, do you think that some amount of bifurcation is okay? I know you said you objectively like to follow the USGA and the R&A and the rules they promulgate, but do you feel there's a certain situation where bifurcation is fine?

COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: First of all, I mean to say I'm pleased that the USGA has opened this up for a period of discussion and is welcoming discussion.

I think we have a unique rule-making system in golf unlike any other sport that I know of; and if it's going to continue and last, it's got to have transparency and it's got to listen to the ideas and thoughts of golf offerings and golfers at every level.

But as I said the other day, in San Diego, generally, it's nice to think that the Rules of Golf can be the same for everybody. You like to think that the participants in the sport can appreciate when they look at the elite players, because they are playing by the same rules, they have an affinity to the elite players. But I don't think that gets eroded from time to time if you were to bifurcate in certain situations.

College football is the same, even though you only have to have one foot in, it's still the same game. I think in certain situations, and I think the obvious one is the golf ball. I've never thought that a rule that relates to distance has to be the same for elite players than for amateurs. I think if for water reasons or other reasons you're going to pull the ball back, that should not necessarily apply to elite players; we play on 200 golf courses, not 15,000.

In certain situations, I think it's something you should consider and look at. I also think that generally when something like this comes up, you should evaluate not just what it does at the elite player level, but also, what impact it has on the average player, and certainly that is the situation with anchoring.

You have to look at it both ways and evaluate that. I think to say that under no circumstances would we consider bifurcating, is like saying, we have got a national debt; under no circumstances are we going to agree to more


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revenue or under no circumstances are we going to agree to cut costs. I think that you have to look at these things from every angle, so I would argue for a more flexible approach, and again, as with respect to anchoring itself, you know, we'll have more to say about that in a few weeks.

DAMON HACK: Commissioner Whan, what are your thoughts?

COMMISSIONER WHAN: I agree with Jerry that I'm not a fan. I hope we don't have to go there.

I can tell you in our Pro-Ams, there's an exciting situation when an amateur plays next to a pro and walks down the same fairway and in our case hits from the same tee, and I would hate to think that they are playing a slightly different game because right now they are playing the same game. I also see them looking in the bags of the pro and wanting to understand the same equipment. I think it's a nice thing from the amateur/pro experience that we see every day on our tour.

That being said, if we get to the point where it has to happen, I'm glad it's on the table and I hope we are not at that stage now purely selfishly, because I think it's better for the LPGA experience and the experience we give to the amateurs.

I lived in a time, as Mark pointed out so politely, back when we had illegal drivers, if you will, and we thought it was just going to take over because now there was a driver, and it really didn't happen then. It was a short-lived period.

So I hope we are not at that crossroads, because I think it is a healthier situation and we are all playing under the same rules. And in general I trust the USGA and R&A. I know when an outsider looks at me and has a question about a tournament format, it's easy on the outside to look in, but we live it every day. I know the USGA and R&A are not just talking about anchoring the putter; they are looking at it in a long term and to trust the rules and hope we can keep the same rules for quite a bit longer, I think it's a better amateur experience.

DAMON HACK: Is this a big of an issue in Europe as it is in the United States? Are people talking about bifurcation of the rules?

RICHARD HILLS: Yeah, thanks, Damon. We continue to be part of the process of evaluating the subject in consultation with the R&A and the USGA. In a perfect world like the two games of soccer and cricket where amateurs and pros play

under the same rules, we would wish in a perfect world to see that continuing.

We have been part of the dialogue and we look forward to the consultation period and what the R&A and USGA come up with after that considered period of consultation. And through the vehicle of The Federation of Tours where we sit with Tim, we see how that is applied and is adopted by the professional game worldwide.

DAMON HACK: Dottie, you're the only player on this panel. You bring a unique perspective to this conversation, what are your thoughts on bifurcation?

DOTTIE PEPPER: I would like to think in many ways, I'm a traditionalist about this game, but when I look back, specifically at championship golf, and see the venues; and Jerry, to your point I think Merion will be a wonderful microscope this year to look at this whole subject.

I think one of the saddest things I've seen in the time that I've been at this level is that we are seeing places like Merion become really in the rear-view mirror of championship golf and places where the game has been born and where American golf and golf worldwide have such great tradition and such great history really become that history. Because the equipment has gotten in my opinion out of hand and -- I'm sorry, Mark, does your golf ball go further and straighter?

MARK KING: Very long and very straight. DOTTIE PEPPER: So I think Merion this

year comes at an absolutely perfect time where we get to see this in action and just the changes that have been made.

I would just hate to see that we get to the point where those venues become completely irrelevant. And I do think, I'm a supporter of it. I think if it can keep traditions of golf alive, then maybe it's time to look a little further and a little faster into the future at what we are really dealing with.

DAMON HACK: You were on Morning Drive yesterday on Golf Channel, and you surprised me with your answer when I asked about bifurcation and one of the things people talk about. The concern about the anchored ban is that a lot of weekenders would say I'm not playing golf anymore, and if I can't anchor the putter, I've got a bad back, I've got the yips; I'm going to go pick up a tennis racquet instead. And you gave a different answer to bifurcation. What are your thoughts on the topic?


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MARK KING: Well, I would say a few things. First, I agree with everybody here. It's a sad state that we are at this point, because I don't think anyone would like to see it.

That being said, I think the game, I think it's much bigger than by first kicks. In fact, I don't think it's the issue. I think the issue is do we want to be an historic game or a progressive game.

I think the reality is if we choose an historic game, the tsunami is about to drown the industry. This show will be half the size in five years. The LPGA Tour will be half the size in five years. Whether Tim likes it or not, advertisers won't support it because companies aren't growing in golf. And this industry now is about money. It's all about money. And without money, all of the things that we enjoy about this industry and this game are going to dissipate.

And it's not coming; it's here. We already live in bifurcation. We already do. Nobody plays by the exact Rules of Golf on Friday afternoon with their buddies.

So I think it's about time that we realize what we have, we have elite players that need a set of rules and we need to create an environment where people want to come in and enjoy this great game, whether it's one foot in in the end zone or two feet, we need to create that environment for people.

And the problem with this industry that I have is the speed at which it reacts. Oh, good, we are going to put this on the table at Merion and talk about it. No; we should have a decision by Merion, so we can move forward and preserve the future of our game. (Applause).

DAMON HACK: Mike, you probably have an interesting perspective on this, we had Mike Davis and Peter Dawson visiting us and talking about this on our air, but what are your thoughts on this issue?

MIKE McCARLEY: I think what both of the commissioners said, there are pieces of that that I completely said and what Mark is saying, that the commercial aspect of this is incredibly important.

When you look at the much broader array of entertainment choices out there and just look at sports in particular, next weekend, the eyes of the world will be on the Superdome in New Orleans, the Super Bowl. No viewer, no fan, who is sitting at home is going to be able to go and play football in the Superdome, but that exact same day, the PGA TOUR will be playing at TPC Scottsdale and all of those viewers who are watching that event can go and play on that golf course.

So can you play the same game with basically the same set of rules and basically the same set of equipment? You could. I think it's an interesting debate that we have to continue to debate but try not to lose the unique aspect of golf that the fan at home who is watching on television can also play more or less the same type of game that those pros are playing and they are all inspired by.

As a media company though, we love to debate. As I told Peter and Mike when they came to Golf Channel to explain this to us, before we went on the air, I thanked them for waiting until November 27 when tournament golf was over to we could fuel this debate. Because we did six hours of live TV about moving your hands from here to here (indicating six inches). And I think we have a responsibility, also, to help fuel the growth of the game and help facilitate the debate to let this debate happen and hear from all sides.

DAMON HACK: Joe, what do you think about this topic? You obviously crunched the numbers and participation is a huge aspect of what you do in your research. What do you think about just this whole debate about bifurcation?

JOE BEDITZ: Well, my first thought is, along the lines of what Mark said, we have people playing by different rules on the weekend, and recreational golf is different than competitive golf. Be it the TOUR level competitive golfer, be it at the club championship, there's a more rigid adherence to the rules than a single code of rules.

So we have bifurcation in practice already. The vast majority of golfers are not competitive golfers, and we know that what grows commitment to the game is people having more fun. That's for sure. And if they had more fun, they prioritize golf in their life, all of a sudden they find the time, they find the money, they play more, they spend more.

Now that being said, the issue of anchoring in public opinion polls that we have done twice now, we have not released these numbers until right now: 20 percent of core golfers were undecided. Of the 80 percent of core golfers, those who play at least eight round a year, they were about two to one in favor of the proposed rule change.

We don't rule by democracy, never have in golf. But that's something that should be considered; that it's less of an issue, and the amount that are impacted amongst core golfers is about five percent with maybe another 15 or


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20 percent who are interested in trying the long putter. I don't think personally it would hurt or hinder growth but we do need to make golf more fun. If that's part of the equation, then I'm all for it.

JERRY TARDE: Obviously this is a complicated subject and I disagree with Mark in that it's not a binary question and not a matter of looking back or looking forward.

Golf is a game that does both and that's one of the reasons why we are attracted to it, it has all this texture to it.

On the other hand, I have to disagree a little bit with Dottie in that I love Merion, it's one of my favorite golf courses. I can't really govern the game by preserving Merion. It's such a small sliver of what golf is.

The USGA and the R&A position is in the position to be able to guard the heritage while still leading us into the future and it is complicated, but they have the ability to help us go there and we, by putting these subjects on the table, have the right and there's certainly the need for us to help inform them.

Back to the tsunami. I wanted to say, I did agree very much with what Dottie said about nine holes and lesser. I think that's a subject I would rather talk about because it has more effect on everybody in this convention hall.

Time is something that is so precious these days and every other recreational endeavor practically that we know is in two-hour increments, whether it's going to a movie or playing a tennis game or going bowling or going to dinner or whatever; it's that you cannot really allocate much more than two hours in our culture today.

I think that we have got to re-define what golf is; that nine holes is not half a game, it's a whole game, and that's a subject that could really help us move the needle. We talk about growing the game; I think most of us would be happy to get back the numbers that we had. That's maybe not about growing the game; it's about attracting youth and minor ties and women and keeping the customer that are now in our stores playing more, because time is eating away at their life.

TED BISHOP: A last comment from The PGA of America particularly on anchoring. The thing that's frustrating on our end is that this is such a polarizing subject, and I would take the numbers that Joe just talked about; and another way that you could direct those numbers is that it was really almost a 50/50 split of those that were either opposed to the ban on anchoring or who

were undecided versus those that were in favor of it.

You know, it's been our charge as an association to be the ones to grow the game. And quite honestly, you've seen the statistics, you've seen how the numbers have decreased year-in and year-out for a variety of reasons. And I think The PGA of America and our members are of mind-set that anything that is done in the game today, that would legislate the loss of one player, one round of golf or that would create any kind of a trend is a very frustrating thing for us and for the facilities that we represent.

And I think that was dictated when we sent that survey out prior to November 29 and we had over 4,000 of our members respond, which is really unprecedented for an association like ours, and 63 percent were opposed to that ban. And I think, you know, those were a lot of the thoughts that directed our members.

DAMON HACK: Does anybody else want to follow up on bifurcation before we open it up?

COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: I'd just like to follow onto that, that if it's 50/50 or 60/ 40 or 70/30, the 30 or 40 percent are saying, no I would not like to see it changed are people that are capable of changing their behavior because of the rule because they are people who use it.

So on the amateur side, and people look at us as the PGA TOUR; we are fundamentally interested in growing the game and doing things to get more people to play golf, and just an easy quantification, taking anchoring away is a negative in that regard.

I've had people come up to me for years and say -- and of course I get lumped into the rule making: "Are you going to do something with long putters?"

I say, "Well, it's under consideration." "Well, I'm out if you do it." So it's going to change people's attitude

toward playing the game. It's directly opposite to what Jerry was talking about, so I think that is something that should be really thought about. It's not just about the elite player who is going to go out, switch methods and use a shorter putter.

That's a whole set of different issues about fairness and the time we have had it, and I think probably more diligence should be put into really understanding what those if he cans are going to do in that kind of environment.


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DAMON HACK: I'd like to open up the floor to questions, if we have some questions from the audience for our panel on anything, really.

Q. I personally think the biggest problem in golf today is the golf ball. It's not the putter. It's the golf ball. I'm 75 now, I played recently with a long-ball hitter, he can hit a five-piece ball a hundred yards past me and I can still hit the ball 230, 240. I find that very, very discouraging that they have taken the ball to that point where you can compress a ball so much better than others and make it go that much further. That's the biggest problem in golf as far as I'm concerned.

DAMON HACK: Some people think that this anchoring ban is a precursor to the USGA or R&A possibly addressing the ball. Obviously we don't have anyone from either organization, but do we almost feel like this is the gateway of this anchoring that we may see a rollback of the fall, Jerry talked about water, the environment. Mark, what do you think?

MARK KING: I'd just like to say one thing. Maybe the ball is the problem, but the ball doesn't go any further today than it did 20 years ago. 20 years ago, we used balls that had rubber bands and a balata cover but they were still two-piece Top-Flite balls that went just as far as they do today.

You have players today, that are trying to figure out how to play and shoot better scores, so they have gone to harder balls. They have given up spin and launch the ball higher with less spin than low with a lot of spin, so the dynamics of the game have changed in pursuit of competition.

And the problem I have with where the rules and the USGA seem to be going is every time a player or a teacher figures out a new way to take advantage of existing equipment, existing ball, and a way to use that, if we are now going to block that, there's no progression in the game.

And I don't think you can stop it. You can roll the ball back and they are going to figure out something else, and then when you conquer that, what are you going to do, limit the sides of the driver again which has been in place now for ten years? Where is the end of blocking progression? That's the problem. It's not the ball.

Q. For either Commissioner or Dottie's perspective, I want to hear about playing nine holes of golf, a time element. How is the Tee It Forward going? Is anyone really buying into

that? I don't see it on my golf courses where I play. Just the idea that when they watch pros on television taking forever in a day to line up their shot with big money on the line, the amateurs seem to feel that it's necessary over a bottle of soda on a Saturday afternoon. Is there anything that you can do about that?

COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: Well, let me just comment on your last part. I think that we have talked about pace of play for a long time. And I was disturbed last year when there was another round of what you just said, which is the PGA TOUR player the culprit here.

I mean, I look at this a certain way. If I have three of our players go out and play on Saturday and play in about three hours and 45 minutes. If they are playing on Thursday and Friday with 156 players on the golf course, it's going to take them longer.

But the idea that a player's pre-shot routine and approach to the game, how long he takes for his shot to be emulated, I can't play my two ball on Saturday morning in 2:45 if I take as much time over a shot as a PGA TOUR player takes.

Now, if I'm playing in a foursome, and I'm shooting 90, it's going to take a long time to play the game. It just is. I don't know anybody who plays in a foursome in under four hours and if you're on a tough golf course and guys are shooting 85 to 95, it's going to take 4:45. It doesn't matter what the PGA TOUR player is doing.

We have a different kind of a problem. We have a problem with certain players who are slower and it's not correct etiquette-wise to be that slow, but they beat the system.

And we told our PAC the other night that we are going to take the next year and do a comprehensive pace of play research study; but it's not just about the PGA TOUR, although we are going to study that. We are going to look at college golf and high school golf and the attitude of the average fan toward the PGA TOUR player because we don't like the wrap. And if it's a correct wrap, then we should do something about it.

But we also have an obligation to take every step we can to make the competition move and be fair, as well. And if we don't have the right procedures in place to make that happen, we should. We have done a much better job in counseling individual players, but we have more of them coming up who have bad habits.


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So we are going to take a comprehensive look this year. We are going to come back next year with suggestions, maybe not just for us, but other organizations, the NCAA, high school coach, whatever, and we will be inviting other people in the industry to join us in this review.

But time is, as Jerry says, I find myself, I play either a fast two ball or nine holes of golf, just because I can't go out and play 18 holes. I think rounds of golf is not the best indicator of health of golf in the United States, because everybody is playing less golf. We still have a lot of golfers.

But if there is a way you can get people to concentrate on nine holes, I think that's phenomenal. And maybe we should have some nine-hole tournaments to demonstrate that there's some legitimacy to it; and whether that is a member/guest or maybe tournaments at clubs or elite player level. So I think we should look at all that.

COMMISSIONER WHAN: I don't know if the LPGA played 15 minutes faster per round if it would change the average amateur round. The good news is, even if it doesn't, we are addressing pace of play, because as Dottie knows, we get together with the player advisory group, and the No. 1 issue for 12 years in a row I hear is: Commissioner, speed up play, fine us, do whatever you've got to do.

So the good news is, even players at the professional level want to play faster. It's a little bit humorous, and we do find somebody, especially in a public setting. And the number of negative e-mails, calls, letters we get from people saying, speed up the game but when we do, it seems like we get some interesting fan reaction.

The good news is we are implementing those rules not only at the LPGA self but the Symetra Futures Tour level and Q-School this year, there was three women running down the fairway that were on the clock. And you know, an elderly gentleman looked at me and said how can you possibly put someone on the clock at Q-School, this is their life.

It's not going it get any better for her next year if she is playing for a really big check; so she'd better learn to run down the fairway now.

When you do speed it up a lot of people do have a problem with it and we are going to be playing faster in the years to come, probably on both tours. I don't know if it will translate to the amateur game. Things like Play Nine and Play Seven, and the USGA having a handicap system built on Play Nine, it's all an answer to the bigger

issue because I don't know if it was pace of play and whether it was four and a half hours or 5 1/2 hours it's too much time today in the sports environment. Not many things people can give four hours to in today's world.

RICHARD HILLS: A lot of our effort goes on The Challenge Tour, our feeder tour to the main tour, on pace of play and indeed working with coaches and players on their pre-shot routines, etc., etc., to bring the aggregate time down of what is taken.

Also in dealing with the amateur federations unions, etc., this is what it's going to be like when you get out on the main tour, you will be followed by the foursome, might be made up with another man with a stop watch. It's educational on this whole subject.

Q. I have two questions, one is a comment. 50 years ago the USGA and the R&A outlawed the croquet-style putting and basically Sam Snead and Bob Duden were two proponents of that method and Sam Snead got side-saddle and continued to play and Bob Duden did the same. My view is that if the outlaw is upheld, I see the players finding another way to solve the problem and that gives us another opportunity as teachers to help, we can help them with their putting, we can find a way, just like Sam Snead and Bob Duden did, to get the ball in the hole. That's our job. So whatever the rule is, I think I'm good with it. We can help those who are affected by it.

My second question is a challenge, and I made a challenge to past President (Allen) Wronowski two years ago: Is there any chance that The Ryder Cup coming up in 2014 that our team will have uniforms made in America. I think it's time that they go to Scotland and wear our made in America clothes. I know we have no control over the equipment. My challenge is to Mark and TaylorMade, can we bring the foundries back to the USA and in making golf clubs. I'm happy to see out here on the floor, companies that now have products made in America, and I'd like to have those companies promoted on the floor. And let me advise that we have good quality equipment made in America, that's my two cents. Thank you.

MARK KING: Was that a question? The problem is today there are no foundries in the United States, not one, that can make an


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investment, cast iron stainless steel titanium or metal wood. Maybe we can start those up but when the production went from the United States first to Taiwan and then to China, now all over southeast Asia, the cost of the product went down by 50 percent.

So if you take our driver today, which is $400; if we brought that manufacturing back here, the retail price would be $600, and so a lot of it is just consumer pressure on what we are able to spend. But I don't think there's anyone that wouldn't want all of the manufacturing to come back here.

We still assemble as much as we can here. We make our urethane golf balls here in the United States, and we have as much manufacturing here as we can afford to. But it's basic economics. It's not about patriotism or want. It's just economics. Unfortunately.

Q. Mr. Bishop, the Golf Datatech Survey results that came out last week said that they found that 30 percent of at amateur golfers who are currently anchoring would continue to anchor after a ban went into effect. Just wondering could you envision a situation where PGA professionals would encourage their members to deviate from the rules, assuming that the ban goes into effect for all golfers?

TED BISHOP: Well, I think that's one of the big concerns that PGA professionals have from a day-to-day standpoint is we are going to have a segment of our golfing population that is basically going to choose to ignore the rules.

And it puts us in a bad position at our clubs and our facilities in terms of how to try to govern this situation and how to try to deal with, particularly in a case of private clubs, maybe members who are on the board of directors who may influence the job security and the livelihood of the PGA professional.

So there's a whole can of worms I think that's opened up with this discussion, and I think that's very disconcerting. Because you run into this from a handicapping issue and you say, okay, well, we are going to play Saturday morning men's club event, and you know, Joe Smith over here anchors, and Joe has been posting scores that have obviously affected his handicap and he's anchored in doing so.

You know, how, if I ran a men's club, we ran on Saturday and said, Joe, you can't anchor on Saturday, how are you going to convert that

handicap and how are you going to deal with that? So I think that's part of the real -- you touched upon one of the things, that's the real angst that we have as PGA professionals.

The other thing is quite candidly, I've seen the diagrams, I saw them again for the third time this week in San Diego when I attended the players meeting and there's some of these methods that are, I'm going to say, somewhat confusing. They can be very difficult to police if you are us and you're getting a call on a cell phone from somebody who is out there playing, say, hey, I think hairy, he's anchoring this putter.

Yeah, a whole lot of problems. One thing I do want to mention, to Bob's point, Ed Ibarguen is sitting here in the audience, he's the chairman of our instruction committee; and I contacted Ed a month ago and said, look, no matter how this thing comes out, The PGA of America needs to be on a proactive end of it from an instructional standpoint.

I got an e-mail from him night before last at 2:43 A.M. and it was an attachment with a rundown of what our instruction committee had come up with at The PGA of America, is what I would call a conversion method, if we are faced with this. So I hope that we are kind of on the cutting edge of that.

Q. I am a Nine-Hole lady. (Forum Guests offer round of applause). And I also Play It Forward and now I constantly shoot 45. I love golf and I spend a lot of money on golf.

MARK KING: (Clapping).

Q. But now I have a question for Dottie. Dottie, how do I get my friends interested in playing golf? One of the ideas that I have is having more women instructors. How do we get the clubs to hire more women to teach women so that they feel more comfortable taking their lessons going to clinics and eventually playing golf and spending money? Thank you.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Well, I commend you for everything you're doing, first of all.

Tee It Forward I think has been one of the greatest things that The PGA of America has advocated but I think we can do better. I saw it in action this summer at the U.S. amateur. We had the traditional NBC versus the USGA day, which I captained the NBC team to victory.


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But they have a wonderful program at Denver Country Club where they have constructed tees that max out at 4,000 yards. And what they have seen in the course of a year is a regeneration of their membership from bookends, as I would call them, from the youth to their members that they were losing so quickly.

And it doesn't just affect rounds played. It affects the food and beverage and it affects every aspect of what you have as a club. And it was not just throwing tee-markers down. They took their capital improvements budget and spread it out and actually built tee markers and encouraged tournament play at those positions. They saw families get reengaged and they saw their club come alive again.

So if I can encourage people to consider that, and it would not have to break a budget. One year do the par 3s. The next year do half of the par 4s. Do it in increments, but see your membership come back to life again.

To your other point about how you get more women involved in the professional and teaching aspect: Ask for it. Literally ask for it. You are the consumer. You affect what happens at your club, what happens in your pro shop, what the staffing can be. Ask for it.

But I think there's also another element that has taken off so well with the The PGA of America's junior program and that's the PGA Junior League. The growth we have seen in the past year with that program nationwide doesn't have to be just for juniors.

I'd like to see it happen on the women's level, as well. Because it gets people of a variety of levels involved, the fright factor is gone. It doesn't have to be a stiff competition. It's scoring in three-hole groups, break it down, we start over after three holes.

There's incentives for being the one that scores that birdie, par, whatever it might be, but a lot of the things that keep people away from the game, drive them away, don't want to try it anyway because it's so darned difficult, those things are eroded, and I think the more we can encourage that sort of stuff to happen around the entire demographic of golf, the better off we'll really all be.

JOE BEDITZ: I'd like to ask to that response about women in golf. There's a very interesting statistic that there's about two million people, two million golfers out of 27 million who play most of their golf at a private club, just about two million. Of those, one-third are women 33

percent. Now if we take the other 25 million people, only 18 percent are women. Now think about that.

What would explain a 33 percent versus 18 percent? I wonder if it's because they are more affluent. Do you think that's it? I don't think so.

It's really pretty simple. There's a more welcoming environment and a safer environment for women in private clubs. If we could replicate that kind of an environment and ambiance for women, the upside is huge.

Most of the latent demand in golf, by that I mean people who want to play; they say we want to play golf now, but just have not started yet, are women. 40 percent of beginners, all beginners, every year, are women. The PGA's program Get Golf Ready, 60 percent of the participants are women.

So I think the upside is really great and relative to the nine-hole rounds, just one comment on that. I know that some people -- Tim, you think nine is about right for you, and I've got to tell you, it's about right for me given my back and not so much because of the time issue, but some people like to spend more time.

In terms of women, some like nine-hole rounds. In fact, my wife, Teresa, likes the nine-hole round so much that she will do three or four of them today. (Laughter) That's all I have to say on that.

DAMON HACK: I tell you, I can't get my dad to play golf. My mom has taken up golf, she's 66 years old and hits balls at a practice range in San Fernando Valley.

I wanted to ask quickly about the Olympics and how that could have an effect on the growth of the game. Tim, you're on the board of the IGF; and Mike, you were the chairman in 2010. Where can the Olympic Games take our game? None of uses with alive the last time golf was in the Olympics. Where do you see the Olympics serving as a role and growing our game?

COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: I think the primary impact is three things. One, in some 85 or 86 countries around the globe, governments invest in sports but in those 85 or 86, they only invest in sports that are on the Olympic program.

So overnight, you're seeing investment in the game to grow the game in a lot of countries that heretofore had not invested in it. And largely because of not just that that's their protocol but


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also governments are more interested in the Olympic Games than other sports.

Second thing is that in certain parts of the globe, because to some extent that, but also because of the focus on the Olympic Games, it's had an impact on just more interesting golf, more recognition of golf, more focus by good, young athletes to aspire to play golf because golf is now in the Olympics.

And thirdly, I think Mike can speak to this, but I don't think any of us kind of saw this one coming. In countries where golf is very much viewed as a totally elitist sport, and I point to Asia in that regard, golf going in the Olympics has softened that image a little bit. People look at it more as a mainstream sporting activity, elite sporting activity but a mainstream sporting activity which has helped open up additional interest and focus on developing the game and the facilities that go with it.

So I think that it is already having an effect and I think over the time, it will have a profound effect on the game globally.

COMMISSIONER WHAN: I always get asked the question how do you think the Olympics will affect the game.

I think what Tim and I have seen is it's affecting the game right now and it affected the game the minute it got a announced. You can't play as much in Asia as we do and travel around with not only the golf governing bodies, but the governments themselves, they call them podium sports; if it's a podium sport, we are in and golf is now in.

So significant investment in youth programs, significant investment in national team programs in a lot of places that it just didn't exist three or four years ago that you nor up and running.

On a personal level and thanks to the USGA our LPGA/USGA Girls Golf Program has ramped up a notch; and thanks to Tim and the work of the PGA TOUR, The First Tee has ranked up a notch. From a U.S. development perspective we have to keep up because what's happening around the world or what will happen is fast.

Separately and differently from Tim, selfishly on the women's side, the Olympics is going to provide a media moment that the women's game just doesn't get on a regular basis. The good news at the PGA TOUR is they get that global audience on a regular basis; we get it three or four times a year. And now once every four years we are going to get a level of attention in the

women's game that just does not exist; and we are going to get it in virtually every corner of the world and our job will be to make sure we capitalize on that.

And the good news is some of the best team golfers on the planet right now come from all over the world, Top-20 in the world from nine different countries on the LPGA. So it's a great time to not only capitalize right now but to capitalize on what it's going to mean when they showcase this in 2016.

DAMON HACK: How many Olympic Games have you covered?

MIKE McCARLEY: Rio will be nine. Probably the person who is most involved in the Olympics is shaking his head, but Anthony Scanlon, who is the president of the IGF and ran the Olympic Games for the International Olympic Committee for many years is probably the best person to kind of talk about this, but Mike, you were right, it's going to absolutely showcase the sport, especially for the women's game who may not get the type of mainstream attention that it should be getting on a regular basis.

But Tim and I have talked about this, when you look at the Olympics and the podium sports and what countries governments start to do when they know that there is this genuine sense of nationalism and genuine sense of pride that can happen when a country wins an Olympic medal, they start to fund the development of that sport in their country.

If you look at China, without even looking at golf, if you look at what happens in China, a young athlete will go through grass roots programs and they are identified as a fantastic potential gymnast; and if they don't make the cut to the elite level for gymnastics they are moved over to diving. And they become great drivers.

And what China has been doing recently, they have been fielding these unbelievable in the Winter Olympics, these unbelievable aerial scheme teams, because it's the exact same types of body movements and things that you need to do for gymnastics and diving.

So a country like China already, and we just saw it as the Asian Amateur this September, are developing some unbelievable players in a lot of these Olympic sports and golf is going to grow in places that it never would have around the globe, just because golf is now returning to the Olympics after an absence of more than a century.


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RICHARD HILLS: I can only amplify what has been said. Jeev Milkha Singh, The Scottish Open Champion, whose father was an Olympian, gave a very good observation during the PGA Championship when it was last at Hazeltine. When we were in the process of getting admission into the Olympics. Yes, I understand what the Wanamaker Trophy is; yes I understand what a green jacket is, but as a golfer but in my country the pinnacle of sporting success is a Gold Medal. So I think that message will ring around the world.

DAMON HACK: From a player's perspective major championships mean everything, but we saw what that Gold Medal meant to Andy Murray in the Olympics in London.

DOTTIE PEPPER: You bet. And you also saw in gymnastics how devastating the loss can be. I think the stories, the emotion of what will come out of and the impact it will have as Mike said for women's golf is going to be especially huge.

You have players talking about extending their careers because they want to have the option to represent their country. When you start hearing people talk about that, you know you've hit all the right buttons.

My concern is the format, frankly that it's another 72-hole event stroke play competition. I would love to see it be more of a team competition, because that to me brings out the nationalism of what the Olympics are about. Whether that happens, I don't know, but I would love to see some consideration go forward about just exactly what the format is and maybe how we can make it a little more impactful than it already is.

JERRY TARDE: I agree with Dottie on the format and I think that's a challenge we need to keep looking at. And I like to drink the Kool-Aid of how this is going to be great for golf around the world, but I'm hearing concerns that maybe even our alarms about Rio and the building of the golf course there; and this would have been a totally different situation if it were London where there's plenty of facilities and already an infrastructure there that understands golf and would give us the launching pad that everybody here is talking about.

But are we concerned enough that if this thing falls flat, what it's going to do in terms of setting back golf in all these countries. I hear from David Leadbetter this morning that gold is in the eyes of everybody in China. He sees players practicing with dedication and work habits that are unparalleled, and that's not only happening in China but throughout Asia and a lot of these

countries that don't know golf the way we do. But there's a lot at stake here if this doesn't work.

COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: Jerry, let me comment on that. There are issues with -- we have to build a golf course, that's a problem, and the choices for the IOC were Chicago and Rio, and they could have gone with a city that has 200 golf courses and they chose one with two, neither one of which work, so you have to build a golf course.

And as you know, when you're dealing with every four years with the organizing committee that's charged with building all the venues, you always read in the papers: They are not going to make it; they are not going to make it. They always make it. However a golf course is obviously different than a tennis court or a swimming pool with seats all around it.

So we are concerned about it, and Anthony is here and there's been a lot of discussion about it, but we have a good plan, we have a good routing plan and we have a good piece of ground. It's complicated to get the ground put together, but I think a lot of progress is being made, so I feel very comfortable. I don't want to start ringing alarm bells because I think we will make it and I think it's going to be great for golf.

In the weird situation that it didn't, it would be a bump in the road, but I don't think it's going to slow down our involvement in the Olympic Games over the long term.

DAMON HACK: We will call this our rapid-fire close and I would like to ask each of you to look into your crystal balls and what do you see as the greatest challenge in 2013 and possible solutions. What are golf's greatest challenges and maybe what are some solutions to meet any problems head-on.

TED BISHOP: Well, I think the greatest challenge, The PGA of America faces is the continual engagement of our members on just how important these growth of the game programs are and the comment was made; for example, about Tee It Forward and the frustration maybe that the gentleman is not seeing in his individual club for that type of initiative.

I think that you know through our educational system at The PGA of America, we are trying to deliver the message and emphasize to our people just how important it is that they not only become engaged, but they become out of the box thinkers in terms of ways that we can continue to grow the game, because the future success of the


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game is obviously going to be dictated by the number of players that are in the game.

You know, that's the interesting thing about anchoring. You've really got two arguments. You've got argument as it affects golf at the highest competitive level and as it affects golf at the level that we administer.

So I think our members get it, I think we look forward to the challenge and hopefully we'll be able to produce the results in 2013.

COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: I would agree that getting through the anchoring issue in a smooth fashion that gets us united going forward after we have coming to the conclusion is important. From a PGA TOUR perspective, I suspect the biggest challenge is to take -- it's actually an opportunity to take full advantage of the digital aspects of what's happening this year with all of our programming becoming simulcast.

We have 55 percent of our viewers now following our telecast online, which is helping our ratings and getting more people involved in different ways with us. That's a challenge and an opportunity and we look forward to what we think is going to be another great year this year.

COMMISSIONER WHAN: There's a lot of research and data available in the golf industry and one that continues that resonate with me, which is that if you were selling anything and a bunch of customers that really wanted it and they just currently are not buying it, you would spend all your time there, and that's latent users.

So when we talk about latent golfers wanting to play more golf and they are just not golfing, that brings it right down to a laser focus. The good news in my little role is, the majority of those latent users are women, and so we can't solve that problem at the LPGA, but we certainly feel the responsibility to be part of the solution.

So you know, step one for us is to make sure the best players in the world are role models are seen more often than they are today. We can't take -- inaudible -- and see us not play; and the second thing is we have to make a significant commitment to growing that level of new young women coming into the game. And like I said, with the USGA we are going to ramp that up to 50,000 young women learning the game with a bunch of other young women.

I think from an industry perspective, not just an LPGA perspective we have women saying, I want to play more golf and plan to; but I'm not playing more golf, and that to me doesn't seem like that big of a challenge. We have got to invite

them. As you were talking about, we have to invite them; make it friendly when they get there and we have to be willing to adapt the game in that individual shop or that individual course; that if they want to play that way, let them play that way. If they want to play that day, let them play that day.

And I think if we keep it just that simple, and the audience is there and wants to play more, let's make the invitation incredibly clear before and after they get to the course. I think that's something that all of us on the panel and everybody walking around this show can have an impact on in a small way.

RICHARD HILLS: Yeah, I guess we play in over 30 countries as The European Tour and it's using the professional game to continue to encourage new kids to the game and then retaining those kids to what is the game of a lifetime.

DOTTIE PEPPER: Mike, I couldn't agree with you more. There is a latent aspect of women but also, with those with kids, and I don't know of a business model that can succeed that would ignore 20 percent of their potential and be able to pull it off.

So I think that is our challenge is to embrace both of them and they can be embraced together. Have programs at the golf course that have moms, dads and the kids all going at the same time. Use your entire facility. I think that's a challenge that we can take on and make a pretty big impact pretty quickly.

MARK KING: I think all of us love not only the game but the business of golf. The initiatives that are in place today for me, I talked to Steve Muller (ph) yesterday, Tim; do a wonderful job of wanting people and inviting them to come to the game of golf.

The unfortunate thing today is that the experience of golf is not fun for a non-core golfer. And unless we actually change the experience of golf, you can talk all about latent demand you want, latent demand is going to increase, not decrease unless we figure out a way to make the experience of golf open, inviting and fun.

MIKE McCARLEY: I agree and the latent demand is there, the fun is there. I think the time it takes to play is -- we talked about pace of play but also trying to put -- if I could leave my car and go straight to the first tee that would probably cut 30 minutes out of the entire day and for a guy who


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has got three young kid at home, you just want to get home.

The total time commitment that it takes to play, if we can shrink, that part of that is once you're out on the golf course and also part of it is potentially using technology and other things to help decrease the other elements that it is to get out to the first tee, so I think that's the total time in which it takes to play. If we can decrease that, we will see a lot of these people who are in this latent demand category will start to come back.

JOE BEDITZ: I think our greatest challenge is also our greatest opportunity, and that is that we have loads of people who want to play golf who are not playing right now. We have got 3,000 facilities that are certified with our Get Golf Ready program and we have to figure out how to stimulate and get those people from the course or from the couch to the course.

JERRY TARDE: I think it's all about expectations. I think we need to let people feel that nine holes is a full round of golf, and how we are using our resources; that greens are too fast these days across the country, and golf courses need to be not only browner but shaggier. And we need to get used to that and feel that that is what good golf is about. When we go to Scotland, we see those conditions and we love it. We just need more of that here.

DAMON HACK: Thank you very much. That concludes our State of the Industry panel discussion. I want to thank the panelists for a very interesting talk and discussion and thank you for listening and asking questions, and enjoy the rest of your time at the 60th PGA Merchandise Show. Thank you.


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april 22, 1995 -...

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