12 Key Questions for 2017

Mike Wilson starts his new column Bunker Mentality by looking into its crystal ball and asks a dozen intriguing questions facing the game of golf

Will President Trump be good for golf?

Another year, another unrelenting season of golf lies ahead, but, apart from the advent of the Rolex Series on the European Tour and the on-going insurgency of the rapacious PGA Tour into territories its has no rightful business to be in, don’t hold your breath expecting change this – or for that matter – any other year

1. Post Olympic Blues?

Whilst Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson just about saved the bacon of the first men’s Olympic golf tournament in 112 years, it was a case of ladies first in Rio as the LPGA fully-embraced the Olympic rings, seized their opportunity and rightfully reaped their rewards.

In a report released late last year, by Syngenta literally-entitled, The Global Economic Value of Increased Female Participation in Golf, it was predicted that, despite accounting for only 24% of active golfers worldwide, women’s golf is where future growth lies, 29% of non or lapsed female golfers indicated they were either, ‘Interested,’ or, ‘Very interested,’ in taking-up or resuming golf.

From a 14,000 sample across eight markets in North America, Europe and Asia, the study calculated a potential addition financial value of US$35m, and that the gentler gender was considerable more likely to encourage their children to play the game too.

Encouraging news in an otherwise bleak outlook at stagnation and decline, and, good luck to the girls for picking up the baton whilst we men rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic.

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