Creative social media strategies to increase rounds on the golf course

Can the use of social media increase rounds of golf played? How can powerful yet seemingly "fun" apps like Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare help bring more people from talking about golf on their computers and smart phones to playing the game?

Golf is already considered a "social" sport for many, so it should come as no surprise that fans are using the internet to find great deals, to have fun with an interest to, well, be social! Large companies such as TaylorMade Golf and Golf Channel have social media gurus who create strategies for engagement and to build brand awareness. Believe it or not, you don't have to be a big brand in order to reap the benefits of social media but you do have to make the effort.

Even small scale communication with your current and future clients will yield positive results, you just have to create a basic strategy for your golf course growth and then decide how social media can best work for you.

Here are just a few ideas to get the golf ball rolling, so to speak, and to get more golfers onto your golf course! Share yours here!

If you don't have a blog, create one on your website now! Post at least once per week with descriptive pictures. Don't fill your space with too many words, two hundred fifty will do but do be sure to include information about what's happening on your golf course. Make sure that, if you don't have a subscriber list, create one now. If I would have known that there were special events at my local golf courses like wine and dines, women's get-togethers, local championships etc, I most certainly would have attended! Be creative! The Cadillac Championship held a social media "happy hour" ...sounds like a great idea!

Everyone loves a good deal. Offering incentives at your golf course like two-for-one golf on Facebook and Twitter and on sites like Groupon will get people onto the fairways. Also create print-out coupons on your website and feature on your blog so that golf fans will head over to your site to read your blog and download your offers.

Do you use Foursquare? Geocaching? Ever heard of them? If not, you should.
Foursquare, a GPS, social networking app, allows members to note their locations with a mobile phone and can find out where their friends are or have been. To be the "Mayor" of your golf course could yield special benefits like a free round of golf!

Geocaching is also GPS based but is an outdoor treasure-hunting game. Basically, a golf course can post "clues" to find "hidden treasure" somewhere within the course and, when someone finds the ""item, they get the treasure. It could range from a sleeve of Callaway golf balls to a Titleist Vokey Spin Milled Wedge. In the last thirty days, almost eight million new logs were submitted to further confirm that this might be an interesting concept to include in your social media strategy.

All of your great incentives and happenings should also be posted on Twitter and Facebook. Make sure to add "events" on Facebook. Where events can also be promoted on Twitter, it would be more fun to, perhaps, have a "retweeting" contest. Even if you aren't Ian Poulter who uses Twitter to gain followers with giveaways, you will surely get feedback.

In order to have social media work for your golf course, it is important to think "outside the box". These few ideas will get you kickstarted and, using a bit of creativity, your golf course could increase its bottom line, that is, more players on the fairways, in the pro shop and in the pubs!

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Ask me how I can help you promote your golf course or golf business: email golfforbeginners@aol.com

 photo credit: rockbottomgolf.com

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Larry David and his Acceptance of Fore in his golf game

Research shows that about twenty percent of all golfers regularly score better than ninety for eighteen holes on a regulation length golf course; on a course rated seventy-two, that score translates into an eighteen handicap.

Enter the trials and tribulations of Larry David, who, in the current issue of The New Yorker Magazine, discusses the stages of his golf game which led from anger to denial and finally to his acceptance of the word 'fore'.

It's amazing how even the most jocular sorts turn dead serious when discussing their golf game and have even injected golf into their "schtick".

Ray Romano's character in "Men of A Certain Age" is a scratch golfer attempting to gain entrance to the Senior Tour. Larry David, ever the sad-sack golfer in "Curb Your Enthusiasm", enlightens readers in this article as to why he should probably never again play golf at Riviera Country Club.

Both comedians love the sport and both are relatively good golfers: Romano's handicap (12.6) and David's handicap (13.6) fluctuate but are within a few strokes of each other. The difference is the way each celebrity golfer approaches the game.

Romano practices regularly and has even engaged the services of Hank Haney in order to try and break eighty. On the other hand, although Larry David (with a bit of help) could perhaps one-day become a single-digit handicapper, he has chosen to accept his shortcomings maintaining, "I’ll never be good. It’s just not something I’m suited for. That’s O.K."

What irks me is how Larry David habitually belittles his ability, "golf is just a hobby I stink at", when the average guy can barely break 100!

Curb Your Enthusiasm Larry...

photo credit: Larry David on Myspace


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Golf fans policing PGA Tour: Good or bad for the game?

Tim Finchem created a buzz in the golf media world with the admission that if fans want to call in a rules infraction, it is their right to do so. This will create thousands of call-ins by armchair golfers who think they see, or possibly do see, something.

 

For the most part, PGA Tour golfers know the rules but, Ian Poulter even reluctantly admitted, "I still dont know all the rules, there's too many."

Although there are Tour golfers who admit they don't know every rule, is "see something, say something" always the best idea?

Why encourage fans to police the PGA Tour?

With social media being an integral part of the world we live in, it is quite easy to reach the PGA Tour via Twitter or Facebook with a comment or an @ statement. Although seemingly harmless, not every fan with a Rules of Golf book should be an armchair referee.

 

"Cutting them (fans) off is not an option at this point"  said Finchem, and he has a point. With the PGA Tour grasping for audience, the Commissioner isn't turning away any viewers but, rather, welcoming them in as pseudo-refs.

 

Telephoning the Tour is an option but would create a glut of calls for every piece of dirt that a fan thought was moved illegally. Perhaps Finchem will set up a special hotline that he could man during each event?

 

One good thing that may come out of all of this is that fans may actually dust off their copies of the Rules of Golf. Golfers may finally READ and understand the rules!

Should the game of golf remain pure or should the new media be welcomed into the sport? Paddy Miller mentioned that the Commissioner has compromised the integrity of the game and is jeopardizing the tradition of golf itself.

Golf has always been a sport of honor in which golfers call an infractions on themselves...if they know that an infraction was created.

If a Tour player, however, didn't realize that he broke a rule, he could go on to win the event which would be unfair to the other golfers. With money and position at stake and knowing that technology now rules the airwaves, it is impossible to keep the tradition of the game completely status quo. Hopefully a resolution that is fair to all will be achieved.

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Men technical, women more social golfers says LPGA Coach

To meet golf professionals through social media services takes just a single click, a simple "LIKE" or "FOLLOW" and maybe a note asking, "Will you join my professional network on LinkedIn?"

Golf is considered a "social" sport and I believe that interactions and connections made on services such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn may just help to solve fundamental issues and grow the sport for future generations. I continually search out and invite golfers into my professional networks and find that they do the same.

A connection through LinkedIn is how I met Mary Paulson, LPGA Professional Golf Coach at Total Approach® Coaching, Site Director LPGA-USGA Girls Golf of El Cajon and a firefighter in San Diego. Mary's interest in growing the game of golf for girls, ages 7 to 17, to "build lasting friendships and experience competition in a fun, supportive environment," led me to send her a friendly email. With Mary's okay, here is our "chat":

STACY SOLOMON: Do you find it easier to teach men or women?

MARY PAULSON: Men vs Women. Good question! Honestly, I enjoy working with men more than women, but there is also a difference.

With men, they are more technical and they are willing to do whatever I ask and tend to be very receptive to my instruction. They get alot out of it, they want to talk about what they know and they will tell me what is wrong with their game!  It makes it too easy for me! The downside is that I will only see the male golfers once or twice a year!  They get what they need and then they are good for the golfing season.

With women, they want to learn the game. They don't neccessarily know the technical aspects and I find that I need to teach them more basic terms and techniques. They are there to learn for more social reasons, to spend more time with their husbands or to go out with their lady friends. I will hear back from the women and get more returning lessons.

So, yes, I spend more time teaching women and beginners because they take more lessons! But I really enjoy working with the advanced and professionals, who tend to be more men, because we can get deeper into the skills and they will take it and go apply it.

With that said, it can go in the opposite direction too!  My least favorite students are men who are just learning the game, and my absolute favorites are coaching competitive and professional female players!

The beginner male students have egos. They have been watching the golf channel, reading books, watching professional players on TV and they have a preconceived idea of how to swing a golf club. So I am faced with breaking down their egos before I can get them to make a decent swing.

With my female players, they leave their egos at home. They get it. They know their game, they understand the swing concepts and what their swing is. With them, I am able to get past the technical and get into what I truly do best, and that is the Mental & Emotional game!

Does that answer your question?  <haha!>  Although I am guessing that you weren't expecting a one word answer, were you.

STACY SOLOMON: How many of the same lesson does it take before that lesson "sinks in" and the student "gets it".

MARY PAULSON:  You asked about lessons and learning retension.  It's all relative. How does the teacher communicate with the student? Do they use the students' dominant sensories to learn effectively, or do they just show the student the skill movement and tell them to scrape and hit?

Definitely golfers need to practice a skill over and over, when it's new, for about 4-6 weeks until the muscle memory kicks in. Your brain can get the skill down within hours! But if the motor functions don't know what the skill feels like, it won't be consistent, which is why practicing new motor skills are so important. But once your motors get it.... it all now becomes mental and a whole new learning skill! haha!

Simply, for golf Beginners, you MUST get out to the range and practice the swing between lessons. If you don't practice, then you will be spending money on learning the same thing from your last lesson!  At least they will if I'm their teacher. :))

There are 4 sections of the swing. 1/4  1/2  3/4 & full swing. I will start you with the 1/4 swing. If you are unable to hit the ball consistantly with a 1/4 swing, I will not move on to the 1/2 swing. Why? You haven't mastered the 1/4 yet.  See what I mean?  But if you go out and practice 1/4 swings everyday for 2 weeks, then I have every faith in the world that I can advance you to a 1/2 swing. The larger the swing, the longer it takes to master the movement (more moving parts.)


STACY SOLOMON: I would also like to ask you a few more questions about the LPGA National program and how you became interested in being a teacher.

MARY PAULSON:  Why I had chosen to become an LPGA Golf Coach gets a bit complicated. We all have our own journeys and mine would have to begin when I began to learn how to play golf back in 2001.


It was a spiritual epiphany. I was watching Karrie Webb getting ready to win the U.S. Women's Open for the 2nd year in a row. Nobody was close and the TV announcers were putting trivia on the screen because they were following Karrie live back from the 16th hole. One trivial tidbit was showing where the US Women's Open would be played for the next 7 years. In 2008, it would be at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, MN.  My childhood hometown!!

Instantly I said to myself, "I'm supposed to play in that!"  This was a country club that my family didn't belong to, nor was I ever invited for even a Sunday brunch!  So, when I saw Interlachen CC, I knew that I wanted to play in the most prestigous Amateur/Professional women's golf event!  Ha!  I would not only have brunch there, but play it!

But I didn't play golf yet. In fact I needed clubs, bag, balls, and all the essentials. AND A COACH!  I needed to find someone to show me how to qualify to play in this event in 7 years!

That in itself is a long story. The short end of the story is that my journey to the 2008 U.S. Women's Open sent me to find a support team of the best golf coaches, sports psychologists, spiritualists, trainers, etc., that helped me attain my goal.

What I came to learn during the entire process was that I didn't neccessarily enjoy competing! I really dreaded getting up early and playing in tournaments with the county ladies. Once I was out playing I was fine, but I really didn't have the heart of a competitor. It was okay if I didn't win! In fact, I very rarely tried to win! I just wanted to play my shots the best I could, and what the score was... that's what it was!

But what I LOVED while practicing and playing was showing people how to create shots. I loved watching others play well!  I knew that this journey to the open wasn't about me playying in it; it was about what I would do AFTER 2008. I have the heart of a COACH. That is the spirit of the game for me. 

I did go to the U.S. Women's Open Qualifier and participated as a player. I was able to use that round as:

1) The final lap to my 7 year journey
2) My score qualified me to turn professional and enter the LPGA Teaching & Coaching Division.  I did it!  I had made my goal!

Funny, when I began the golf journey to Interlachen CC in Edina MN for 2008, I was doing it to prove something. I don't know who I was trying to prove anything to, nor do I really know WHAT I was trying to prove. But I dedicated my entire life for 7 years to do it!  But by the end, I was a completely different person with a new future. I was a better person, who was no longer needing to prove anything to anyone, but wanting to impart all of the lessons I learned, and from the best in the world, to those younger that do have the heart of a competitor.

I started playing golf at the age of 37. I turned professional at the age of 44, and when I turn 50 I will retire from the Fire Department as a Engineer Driver operator firefighter and travel full-time with my players and prepare them for their qualifiers and tournaments!

So that is why I chose to become a teacher. I have the heart of a coach, and for me, the spirit of the game is creating shots and showing others how to play their best! If you aren't true to your spirit of the game, will not be successful. You will not be at your peak performance.  So, I am a coach. :))

Oh! And I did go to Interlachen CC for the 2008 U.S. Womens Open, not as a player, but as a coach!  

I was lucky enough to participate in a coaching seminar during the Open with my teachers, Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott. It was wonderful!  They were working with several players in the Tournment and all of us coaches were sent out on to the course to observe 3 players each day, then come back together and discuss what we each observed.

It was wonderful training for me as a coach! No, I never played Interlachen. But the original journey turned out to never be about playing! It was about coaching.

Enjoy your day, and happy 1-putts!

Mary~

You can contact Mary Paulson, LPGA Coaching Professional at:

Total Approach® Coaching
Site Director, LPGA-USGA Girls Golf of El Cajon
(619) 414-4495
http://www.totalapproachcoaching.com
http://elcajonlugg.blogspot.com
and, of course, through LinkedIn!


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PGA Tour can learn from John Daly's social skills

Although the PGA Tour "communicates" with its fans through online giants Twitter and Facebook, people who follow don't usually receive much of a personal response. Two-way conversation is crucial to opening the doors of social media.

With social networking still in its infancy, the potential for growth within these two vastly contrasting formats is enormous, providing that the PGA Tour is willing to adapt its style to meet the demands of both.

Executive producer of PGA TOUR.com Scott Gutterman feels that by extending reach to Twitter and Facebook, fans will experience a "direct connection" that they crave but admits that "their audience numbers are not as high as the Tour would ultimately like." Guttman understands that "two-way communication of social media doesn’t happen overnight."

ESPN sports analyst and former NBA star Jalen Rose believes that "interaction" is the key to more fans and followers.

"The PGA needs to talk with the fans who are posting on their wall. They need to interact with people talking about golf on Twitter, and even have golfers give live lessons on Ustream! It’s time for the PGA to build a culture where golfers and golf fans come to the PGA’s social media accounts when they want to talk or find out more about the sport."

Various internet studies comparing Twitter and Facebook mention that, although many users have profiles in both communities with some interconnectedness, some celebrities grow a much larger fan base due to the scope and ease of communication through one social medium over the other.

Coincidentally, social media trends indicate that although most Fortune 100 companies have some type of social media presence, Twitter is becoming more popular.

For now, the PGA Tour seems to have a better connection with its Facebook group probably because this social media option is more like its current website.

The allure of Facebook is long-term community-driven status with the ability to apply pictures, information and a "face" to the Tour while Twitter followers appear to be more chatty and unreserved, wanting information in more immediate, quick bursts. Youtube.com is almost an offshoot of the PGATour.com website so, even though there were 4.4 million uploads of golf videos as well as over 128,000 visits to the site to date, it can hardly be considered "social" media.

Taking into consideration that the PGA Tour has more than double the number of Facebook fans (45,000) over Twitter followers (about 21,000) and that the PGA of America maintains that there are 27 million golfers in the USA, the Tour should be asking what can be done to grow their visibility on both platforms as well as internationally as golf is a worldwide sport.

One way to reach fans en masse and in person? How about on-course during an event: go to where the fans are and seek them out. Although cell phones are considered a "no-no" at events, perhaps the PGA Tour could set up special tents with Twitter on net books close enough to the action where fans could post tweets in exchange for giveaways. The winner gets tickets to a future event or an 'inside the ropes' activity. Sign up as a "follower" and see your name on one of the big boards around the golf course!

Six events are set up for the West Coast Swing alone, which puts into play two Arizona golf courses and four more in California. Followers could be increased by reaching out on-course as opposed to solely through internet strategies.

The list of "fan-friendly" PGA Tour golfers can perhaps also use their power of persuasion by adding the @PGATour link occasionally during a tweet. The connection between professional golfers and the Tour would benefit because the PGA Tour has the more statistical analysis while the golfer could add 'pizzazz'.

John Daly, one of the most vibrant "tweeters" in the world of social media, (@PGA_JohnDaly), currently has over 44,000 fans on Twitter, more than double the number of followers than @PGATour yet falls short on the number of Facebook followers with slightly more than 14,000 fans.

Daly keeps in touch and keeps it "real" and so he appeals more to Twitter fans. When someone asks a question (and he's available) they can expect a response from JD.

John involves the fans with regularity from mounting a Twitter campaign as the Golf Channel's next "Haney project" to offering autographed copies of his new CD. Now that's the way to market yourself!

Of course Daly's eclectic lifestyle makes many fans want to keep track of his larger-than-life status but maybe the PGA Tour should take a tip from JD when it comes to Twitter because communication and putting a face to the tour really helps in adding value to the brand.

Adding fan base may as simple as having a a few surprise celebrity "tweeters" on @PGATour or following a few of the hot golf bloggers to stir things up a little (like @golf4beginners for instance?)

Other PGA and LPGA Tour golfers are enjoying celebrity status on Twitter rather than on Facebook and finding it easier to jot down a quick note while practicing or even just after winning an event.

Ian Poulter, @Ianjamespoulter (7,004 Facebook/ 977,239 Twitter fans) just won his first event ever in the US, a match-play event and, at 2:01am after the event tweeted, "Evening friends, What a day, just sitting on my bed in palm springs, doing cobra commercial tomorrow. 6.45 start, so happy after winning." You can't get much closer to your golf hero than that!

Michelle Wie, @theMichelleWie (2,716 Facebook/14,984 Twitter) told her fans what she was doing on Valentines Day: "spending valentines day writing a paper and listening to Metallica in my hotel room. haha so ideal...not. :)" Who would have thought Michelle Wie to like Metallica!

Stewart Cink (2173 Facebook, 1,226,058 twitter) asked fans about some of their favorite songs: "Just listening to David Bowie's "Space Oddity" on the way to practice. One of few songs I like that include a countdown. Your favorites?"


All of the examples above have both Facebook pages and Twitter accounts but less time is needed for a 140 character update than the investment of time required with Facebook.

With the ability to have tweets directly imported to Facebook, MySpace and other social websites, fans still feel connected but the connection originated with Twitter. Facebook also looks and feels like any other website, with the ability to put up a "wall" separating the fans from personal connection.

That being said, both social media platforms are tools for communication, each with its own unique functionality. Whereas Twitter has become more of a quick way to meet friends and network, Facebook prides itself on a deeper level connection.

Both forms of social media are necessary in order for the PGA Tour to grow on an international level. If only the Tour could find a way to "humanize" itself and add a bit of the celebrity mix which people seem to gravitate towards, it would marry both its online business concern with a more approachable presence.

Written by Stacy Solomon
http://golf-for-beginners.blogspot.com
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