Golf 20/20 Summit

I haven't seen any substantial media coverage of the 6th annual Golf 20/20 meeting that concluded Monday. Just a few years ago Tim Finchem predicted at the first 20/20 summit that they hoped to grown the game to 55 million by 2020, and people actually were interested in what this gathering of minds had to say.

This press release appears on the Golf2020.com site and gives an overview ofthe 2005 event:

The two-day symposium began with a look back at the past five, and where the industry has come in that time in terms of its fan base, participation, rounds played, facility development, retail spending and international growth.

While the decline of rounds played that occurred so sharply in 2002 has leveled off, that continues to be the area of greatest concern. But at the same time the fan base continues to develop and broaden demographically, there are more participants in golf than ever before, retail spending will hit an all-time high in 2005, and expansion of the game internationally is happening at an unprecedented pace, which is having an impact on many businesses based in the U.S.

Looking back through past press releases (yes, scary), I noticed this major objective in 2001 for Golf 20/20, a topic that does not get mentioned in this year's summary of accomplishments and goals:

Affordability is critical to growing the game. Affordability/value is by far the most important factor that influences play. Nearly 60% of golf’s best customers believe affordability is one of the three most important factors that influences play, and that an 18-hole round of golf is a good value at about $35. A round begins to get expensive at about $55 and too expensive at $117.