TREND WATCH

Female Escape Artists and

The golf scene is changing with more women
spectators stir up tournament culture, while



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GOLF'S CHANGING FACE

It's not just business as usual on golf courses today. New groups of people are demonstrating interest in the game and the game itself is undergoing changes.

The National Golf Foundation (NGF) reports that 24.7 million Americans played golf in 1996, an increase from 19.9 million in 1986. During that same decade, the number of African-American golfers almost doubled from 360,000 to 700,000. Other newcomers to golf include women, who now make up one-third of the two million people who take up golf each year.

Of the 5.4 million women playing golf in 1997, a NGF survey found that this segment of the golf market consists of five different benefit categories:

• Escape Artists

(17%) play to get away from the job or other daily responsibilities;

• Traditionalists

(23%) are primarily club members who play to enjoy the outdoors or spend time with family;

• Hobnobbers

(21%) are women who consider golf as an image- or career-building activity and play to enhance self-confidence and belonging;

• Golf Nuts

(20%) are female golfers who play the most and have the lowest handicaps; and

• Party Putters

(19%) play golf purely as a social activity.

In order to increase crowds and revenues, some golf tournaments have built stadium courses with better seating and sought more corporate sponsors for party tents. The good news is that it has worked. Sixteen PGA tournaments reported record crowds in the past two years. The Phoenix Open drew more than 460,000 people in 1998, a 300% increase in ten years.

Who are these new people? According to PGA surveys, approximately half of today's spectators are under 35 which is a 25% increase among that age group in just three years. The not-so-good news is that these younger newcomers to PGA events bring with them a festive mood, creating challenges for tournament organizers and security personnel. (Wall Street Journal, April 10, 1998)

Not enough time in the weekend to spend half a day on the golf course? Think golf is just too slow-moving? Enter "Speed Golf," a game, which originated on the West Coast, that combines running with golf. Speed-golfers post scores that reflect both the score and playing time. As the golfers run around the course carrying only one club, the caddy in a cart speeds ahead shouting out yardage and handing the speed-golfer the appropriate club. (International Speed Golf Association, San Diego, Cal.)

UPS AND DOWNS OF PHSICAL ACTIVITY

The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) estimates that the sporting goods industry grew 5.2% in 1997 with sales of equipment, footwear, and apparel, reaching $44.14 billion. SGMA reported that sales of fitness equipment increased 10% to $2.9 billion and predicts that 1998 will see an additional increase of about 7% to $3.1 billion. (Fitness Management, April 1998)

It appears as if the lucrative sneaker industry has finally stubbed its toe. Nike's unsold inventory is up by nearly $500 million to $1.4 billion and Reebok's earnings are down from $254.5 million in 1994 to $135.1 million in 1997. Watch for these companies to turn away from big dollar contracts with professional athletes and move towards new advertising campaigns such as Nike's "I Can," Reebok's "Anything's Possible," and New Balance's "Achieve New Balance in Your Life." (USA Today, February 13, 1998)

The International Dance Education Association (IDEA), an association of fitness profes

44 / Illinois Parks and Recreation


FEMALE ESCAPE ARTISTS AND HOBNOBBERS FILL TEE TIMES

Hobnobbers Fill Tee Times

and African-Americans playing the game. Younger
"Speed Golf" takes off on the West Coast.

BY EllEN I. O'SULUVAN, Ph.D., CLP

sionals, reports the followingincreases in class participation during the past year: yoga up 23%; dance (ballroom, ballet, tap, etc.) up 22%; walking programs up 19%; circuit training up 17%; tai chi up 16%; and martial arts up 15%.

New athletic equipment soon to appear in sporting goods stores everywhere includes:

• A baseball with a "brain" that automatically clocks the speed of a pitch;

• Hands-On Basketball, a unique teaching basketball with color-coded hand prints;

• Charger Bike, a mountain bike with a motor and computer that intuitively knows when the rider needs a motorized boost; and

• A smart bat with computerized sensors that read the power and timing of the swing and tells players whether they got a home run, a hit, or struck out.

PATTERNS & PREFERENCES

Nostalgic for the good old days when gas was 30 cents a gallon and you could buy a house for what a car now costs? A recent study conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas compared the cost of houses and consumer goods based on the number of hours the average American would have to work to acquire these items. This study indicates that for most consumer purchases life is better now than it was back in the 1950s. Basic living costs take far less from today's paychecks. In 1950, the average American household spent 54.8% of its income on food, shelter, and clothes. Today that amount has dropped to 37.7%. There are two exceptions: college tuition and medical expenses are not better deals in today's marketplace. (Los Angeles Times, March 25, 1998)



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According to the U.S. Census Bureau,
the number of women choosing not to have children has reached its highest level since it started to track this statistic in 1976. For women between the ages of 15 and 44, 42% are childless today as opposed to 35% in 1976. The increase is even more substantial among women 35 to 39 years old with 19.7% childless versus 1.5% in 1976.

An estimated 12.8 million households in the United States had Web access in 1996, which represents a 276.5% increase over 1995. That number is projected to reach 50.3 million by 2002. (Web/On-line Services 1997: Consumer Market Analysis and Forecast)

Apparently most baby boomer parents are taking a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with their children regarding drug use. A recent study conducted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America suggests that parents vastly underestimate the presence of drugs in the lives of their children. While only 21% of parents indicated that there might be a "possibility" that their teenagers might have tried marijuana, 44% of teens revealed that they already had experimented with the substance.

MATCHING BENEFITS AND BEHAVIORS

Women golfers aren't the only recreation participants who pursue a particular activity for a specific reason or benefit. Try matching benefits to other leisure behaviors and see if you can better attract or retain participants based upon the reason they do what they do. This approach can lead to the development of more targeted and effective programs and services.

ELLEN L O'SULLIVAN, Ph.D, CLP

is the president of leisure Lifestyle Consulting of Giastonbury, Conn., specializing in support for the service industry in reaching and retaining customers through leisure experiences and Lifestyle connections. Comments or suggestions about the column con be made by contacting her at 860.633.3652 or ellenosufl@aot.com.

May/June 1998 /45


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