#golfrevolution – Our Shameless Fight to Grow Golf in At-Risk Youth Communities: UPF’S Donation & Vision for Golf in 2030

If over the past year I have been obnoxious when promoting the “social” aspect of our Social Enterprise it was never meant to annoy the reader. Rather, it was meant to disrupt and allow the reader a moment to reflect on the state of the game. If you love golf even half as much as we do, we hope you will understand why we feel it’s necessary for a #golfrevolution. Golf changes lives and is a gift – this post is meant to strengthen those arguments.

Despite growing up in a low-income neighborhood, I had the rare opportunity to manifest an addiction to the golf course, and the game of golf. It was a healthy addiction that undeniably kept me free of quite a few societal risks. Risks that I had a problem avoiding as a teenager and young man. If it hadn’t been for a $50 golf membership at my local golf course, I would not be writing this post and in all likelihood, would have never created a golf Self at all. As a professional in the golf industry, I was a PGA of Canada coach for 12 years working at two of the best driving ranges in Canada, I was a professor in a Golf Management Program at Humber College, and perhaps the most important part of my professional golf Self, and the part that set me off into this revolutionary state, is the part which bravely resigned from his job at Humber and founded a not-for-profit called the Canadian Youth Golf Alliance.

For 5 years this organization delivered golf programs to at-risk youth mainly in the priority neighborhoods of Toronto and in my hometown of Sudbury – two vastly different Canadian cities. Although the not-for-profit organization no longer exists, its spirit is stronger than ever as it plays out in the 4th Chapter of my golf Self. This 4th Chapter began with a partnership between the UPF Social Enterprise and the NGCOA Canada’s Kids Play Golf Program. Our social commitment through UPF is to donate 50% of the company's yearly net profits to the NGCOA Kids Play Golf Programs; programs that align directly with the programs the Canadian Youth Golf Alliance tirelessly attempted to fund for 5 years. 

Because a #golfrevolution is undeniably a form of sociological revolution, I chose to use the following definition from dictionary.com.

Revolution: Sociology. a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure, especially one made suddenly and often accompanied by violence.

UPF as Revolutionary Weapon

Although we would never think of resorting to violence in our #golfrevolution, we felt from the beginning we had to be radical (enter radical idea: who in their right mind would donate 50% of their profits in the finance industry?). We thought it necessary to be radical as we were faced with a very serious problem. Enter the Social Enterprise, Under Par Finance (UPF).

Is “pervasive change” in the golf industry possible? If non golf companies and corporations are the biggest contributors to youth golf programs, shouldn’t it be time golf focused companies and corporations stepped up and recycled the money back into the industry? Everywhere in North America thousands of companies and corporations are joining the Social Enterprise Revolution – in fact, it seems like every commercial these days is about a company giving back. Question: How much is your bank and/or finance company giving back to golf when you finance with them? The answer is usually $0, but never $0 when it comes to "normal" sports. If the industry needs an injection to help grow golf, wouldn’t asking your bank or finance company to give back to golf be an easy start in creating change? If they say no, come join our revolution - we have no choice but to give 50% of our profits back to golf as embedded in our constitution and by-laws.

One of the largest Canadian banks pays millions and millions of dollars to promote their golf brand and have their logos plastered all over the media and on the shirts, hats, and bags of a select group of professional golfers. How much do they give back to growing grass roots golf? We look at golf course year end financials on a daily basis, and hear hundreds of owner/operator stories – they would all say that we need to change our grow golf strategies as they simply aren’t working – save a few great programs. The golf industry must lead the charge if golf is to grow in non-traditional golf markets, UPF’s modus operandi is to provide some of that help and help grow the game.

Golf in 2030 – A “Normal” Sport

We can compare golf to other sports, but that is tantamount to complaining about the lack of funding for grass-roots golf programs in that it doesn’t strengthen the #golfrevolution. Indeed, in 2030, we see golf as “normal” in that there are millions of pictures of golf communities that look just like the one you’ll see at the end of the post. “Normal” sports these days in North America have diverse communities playing them, not golf. What we’ve learned through our experiences developing and trying to fund programs with the Canadian Youth Golf Alliance might seem shocking.

From 2011 to 2015 the Canadian Youth Golf Alliance introduced golf to 150 youth in Toronto, and 150 in Sudbury. Both programs were very successful in some regards, but the results very different. In the priority neighborhoods of Toronto where there are few opportunities, whenever we organized a day of golf almost every youth in the program would consistently show up, excited and ready to play golf. In Sudbury where our generous golf course partners donated free memberships and golf clubs for any youth who wanted to play, in 5 years and with 150 youth in the program, a measly 2 youth took advantage of the program (it’s important to note those two youth were already golfers, as were some of the others who never took advantage of the freebies). One year in Toronto we raised enough funds to get four youth yearly memberships, those four youth golfed all the time as a foursome and are now golfers for life, still golfing together periodically. Absolutely none of the youth we introduced golf to in Toronto had ever golfed before. But, given the opportunity to golf, they all seized it. These are not judgments but merely our observations based on experience and statistics. 

What would happen if the golf industry revolted and joined our mission? The change would result in a prosperous and diverse golf community, we think. What would happen if the golf industry worked together in introducing golf to 1 million Canadian at-risk youth by 2030? What would happen if we introduced golf to 10 million at-risk youth in the United States by 2030? In our minds, if this were to happen there would be millions of new golfers bred from non-traditional golf communities, golfers who will shape the future of golf in the amazing ways other “normal” sports are being shaped. Our Vision is that golf will look much like our famous picture of the first time we took a group of youth golfing in Toronto – do you think they are pumped to be golfing? Is it so crazy to think that this is what a “normal” golf team from downtown Toronto should look like? We don’t think so – hence our shameless fight for a #golfrevolution.