Adapting to a new generation of golfers

If last year’s U.S. Open was all about the unknown course (Chambers Bay) and its questionable conditioning, this year is literally the exact opposite with Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh, PA.

The shot that keeps you coming back.

The Nextgengolf City Tour is swinging into full tilt in just a few weeks, as the 2017 season gets underway in June at 20 cities across the country.

Growing up as a non-member in a private country club community, I spent as much time as I could around the golf course. As soon as I turned the working age of 14, I went to the local country club and got my first job. Employment at a country club brings a number of perks to the young golfer seeking to improve their game, but none match the opportunity to play golf for free.

As the school year winds down, and many high school and college aged players look for their first job in the golf industry, I thought I’d share some of the golf jobs that are available to young golfers.

Coming out of high school, I could guarantee I was a lot like many other junior golfers, an above average high school player who just did not have that edge to play at the Division 1 level. I still wanted to be competitive with golf though, as well as go to a large school. Flash forward 2 years and I am a sophomore at Virginia Tech, NCCGA Regional Ambassador, Vice President of the Club Golf team, but more importantly a Srixon Golf Ambassador.

Over this past winter, I paid the Nextgengolf team a visit at their office in Boston. After talking through logistical items for a while, they hit me with the idea that they were discussing having Regional Ambassador’s become ambassadors for Srixon Golf and Cleveland. I jumped on this opportunity, mostly because I needed a new golf bag.

Each year, Nextgengolf sponsors provide more and more value to NCCGA and City Tour players.  Whether it is through onsite demos and product seeding, or offering some of the best products in the industry at member pricing, our sponsors continue to innovate and make a difference.

Nine Cities Host Season Opening Tournaments

It's been a long 240 days since the 2015 City Tour golf season wrapped up. Almost eight months since Team Slice and Dice out of Cincinnati won the first ever Championship at Cog Hill in Chicago. A lot changed since then, including expansion into new cities (12 new cities) and a brand new tournament format offered to all players (scramble AND best-ball).

I'm sure like most of you, we were ready for the season to finally start.  This past weekend the 2016 season officially kicked off in nine cities across the country. Here's how it went down:

It is not surprising the millennial generation is playing less golf than their parents were 20 years ago given factors out of the control of the golf industry such as hours in the day and technology usage. At Nextgengolf, we get requests from PGA Professionals every day asking how to best attract millennial golfers to their facilities. For those of you interested in getting more players to your facility, here are 10 tips which can help you attract millennial golfers and keep them coming back.

Written By: Greg Cartin | @GC3Greg

We've all been there, no matter how hard we try to forget it. Admittedly, I've been there more times than not. You are standing on the tee box. Golf ball is teed up to the perfect height. You have the correct club in hand, and all eyes are on you. You step up to the ball and take dead aim at the green. While all this is happening, you are already thinking ahead to the high-fives and trash talk after you sink the putt and walk away with a birdie.

Most of the golfing world did not know who Smylie Kaufman until yesterday after his win at the Shiners. We were lucky enough to meet Smylie earlier this year when the NCCGA received a donation from Smylie to help support the LSU Club Golf team after they made it to their first NCCGA National Championship this spring at Bryan Park in Browns Summit, NC.

Can you smell that in the air coming off the coast of Lake Michigan? No? That’s the smell of the final Major of the year. And it has the potential to be a dandy. So many story lines. So many possibilities. So many bunkers!

This past weekend I went to my first PGA Tour event, the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. Since starting as an intern at Nextgengolf 6 months ago, I have gotten back into and renewed my love for the game of golf. I was very excited to go to the event to see what it was all about.