Modern golf’s exclusivity is changing. There’s a new game on the course, with new demographics teeing up, too.
First Tee, metropolitan Oklahoma City’s youth development organization, empowers youth to learn golf skills while developing character qualities through a life skills curriculum. First Tee has several programs with their School Program integrated into physical education programs. As well, First Tee works with youth centers like the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club.
Tee Time Golf of Tulsa is also mainstreaming golf, making the sport more accessible to folks of all ages and abilities. Tee Time is fully private, offering an indoor Trackman studio, and also rents its mobile golf simulator for events. Tee Time provides multi-camera setup for swing analysts, reasonable and flexible memberships, an easily accessible location, full golf training, plus Titleist mobility and strength training programs. Tee Time’s privacy is great for tentative beginners or serious players who want to limit distractions.
First Tee’s Program Director Brett Hopkins says that expanding access to the sport is important to the program.
“We give children ages 7+ an affordable way to get on the golf course with coaches and helpers,” he says. “City golf courses are also doing this by giving discounts to kids. Plus, there are more junior camps and junior golf programs than before.”
Derik Keim is Tee Time’s owner and lead instructor and says that you “don’t have to join a country club or commit to five hours on a course. Simulators, short courses and casual formats let people play on their own schedules, opening doors for a lot of younger players and adults without intimidation.”
Keim offers free coaching to members, easing the cost, and also partners with Jenks Community Education to run mobile golf camps on the Jenks campus for students.
“Cost shouldn’t be the reason a kid or anyone else can’t golf,” he says.
First Tee programs also include simulators, and their rise allows for less walking, shorter golf rounds and overcoming Oklahoma’s extreme weather conditions. People are even buying simulators to use at home.
Plus, changes in behavior, dress codes and more convenient locations are making golf more appealing.
“City courses allow people to play in shorts and T-shirts, rather than pricier collared shirts,” says Hopkins. “You no longer need country club memberships.”
In the past, golf tended to be a pretty buttoned-up sport, but now, Hopkins says, “people play to have fun. Parents are starting to play more and they’re taking their kids. Also, a lot of kids enjoy playing with other kids rather than adults.”
Keim continues: “YouTube golf is a big part of changing golf, too. It’s exploded. Big-name players have their own channels, so you can follow the best golfers in the world. It’s often how kids are discovering golf and their favorite players. Golf is a lot more personal than it used to be.”
Par-3 short courses are popular, with many locations such as apartment complexes, First Tee and Lake Hefner Golf Club. And junior golf is big, offering competitive year-round play and tournaments.
“Golf used to feel like something you had to grow up in,” says Keim. “Now people are finding their way into it from all directions, and that’s a great thing for the game.”
