Why Is Golf So Popular?

There can be no doubt that the rise of Tiger Woods from a teenage prodigy to a world champion did more to popularize the sport of golf than any other event or personality in the history of the game.If one could plot the increase in the fame of Tiger Woods and correlate that with increasing interest from a wide variety of age groups there is no doubt that the two lines on the graph move move upwards at the same rate.

As Tiger's star began to burn brighter television channels dedicated to the sport began to show 24 hour coverage of tournaments all over the world, further fueling interest in what had prior to the Tiger Woods phenomenon been seen as a pastime for older players, with gold courses being seen as places where business deals were sealed, rather than a setting where young people could enjoy themselves in the fresh air.

However the rising popularity of the game was not simply due to the meteoric rise of Tiger Woods. There were a number of other factors that came together at precisely the right time to give golf the boost it required to become the world's most popular sport.

First at the same time that Tiger Woods was starting his relentless march to the top of the global leader board new manufacturing techniques and materials were transforming how golf clubs and golf balls were being designed and made. Stronger and lighter materials and new designs were more forgiving and suddenly golf did not have the terrifyingly steep learning curve that had made entry into the sport so intimidating. New even the rawest beginner could get their handicap down into the low single digits in next to no time.

At the same time a new wave of retirees with money were becoming interested in the sport, fueling the growth of pro shops (with value for money used clubs that youngsters could purchase) and spurring the growth in the popularity of golf course estate living.

Once developers realized that golf was a goldmine more and more courses began to appear not only across North America, but across the world.

Suddenly almost everyone who wanted access to a golf course could find one within striking distance and the sport grew massively, helped along by the marketing budgets of companies such as Nike and other global giants.

Golf was cool - and the sport has not looked back since.