I’d like to see some improvements in golf. Wouldn’t you? And don’t you sometimes have a great idea that you’d like to share, maybe even see implemented? But you get the feeling that nobody’s listening or cares.
Part of my work at this blog involves contacting the big organizations. I do so with the best of intentions, asking legitimate questions, or offering feedback on how they can improve what they are doing. So far, I would say that their responsiveness ranges from awful to good. Maybe that’s because their highly paid executives have a monopoly on good ideas.
But this is to be expected, considering that Jack Nicklaus, a voice of reason if there ever was one, has suggested for years that the ball goes too far, that it’s ruining the game. If they won’t listen to Jack, who will they listen to? How about 10,000 angry fans who are tired of being ignored by the powers that be.
In any case, let me give you a brief rundown of some of my most recent encounters with golf’s ruling powers just so you know what we, the fans, are up against.
USGA
They have been very helpful with all of my requests. Real people work there who answer the phone. If, however, your request goes too far beyond the ordinary, you could run into a roadblock.
Callaway Golf
They were very friendly, and put me through to someone who answered my questions. So far so good.
PGA Tour
Quick to respond. Answers to easy questions are provided. Tougher requests are completely ignored, as are suggestions for improvements.
World Golf Hall of Fame
The jury is out. They do respond and are friendly. In fairness I made a rather detailed request for information. A second request for information was ignored.
World Golf Rankings
They are a big fat zero. They say they want feedback, but they never respond. Emails must go into the infamous black hole.
European Tour
My two attempts to contact them, one with a compliment, the other with a great idea, were totally ignored.
If you’ve has any successes or failures I’m sure others would like to hear about them.
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3 responses so far ↓
1 The Armchair Golfer // May 17, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Glad to hear you’re taking the time to contact/talk to the golf organizations. Thanks for reporting the results. I’ve had some contact myself, and would echo your comment about the USGA being helpful. They’ve been great to me.
2 Porter // May 19, 2008 at 8:14 am
Out of curiosity, could you list some examples of the types of suggestions you have written to these organizations about?
3 Phil // May 19, 2008 at 8:57 am
In response to Porter, here are just a few of them :
PGA Tour - Making the archived scorecards available from previous seasons. Create a Home Run type stat for par 5s in two.
World Golf Rankings - Create an alphabetized search. Have a quality of field rating at the start of each tournament based on the WGR.
European Tour - On the tournament stats give the player’s ranking (GIR 12t).
World Golf Hall of Fame - Inquiring about players like Tom Weiskopf who are, or are so close to HOF quality who no longer appear on the ballot.
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