Lots of Internet TaylorMade bashing in the wake of Dick’s Sporting Goods laying off nearly 500 PGA professionals. Seems the company is being blamed for the perceived force feeding of new product onto Dick’s shelves.
TaylorMade isn’t the only company that pushes multiple product through the pipeline – and the practice certainly didn’t start this year. The Dick’s layoffs are a symptom of golf’s ills, not the disease. Golf is a niche sport that is oversupplied in regards to equipment and courses and under supplied in regards to golfers.
The grow-the-gamers have failed miserably in their initiatives and never been held accountable for those failures. PGA of America President Ted Bishop is a blowhard and a prime example of that non-accountability, but he’s not the cause. None of golf’s leading associations – the PGA, PGA Tour or USGA – have ever been held accountable for the failure of their grow-the-game initiatives dating back to Golf 20/20 some 14 years ago.
