Adapting to a new generation of golfers

Twitter is a marketing tool used by millions worldwide. By joining twitter, your golf course will benefit in many ways. Not only will you be able to be discovered by prospective customers through social media, but you will also get the chance to promote unique aspects of your course to the world. In this guide, I will outline the basics of creating a Twitter account and provide data for why Twitter is important in the golf industry.

As I sat on my couch last weekend, glued to the NBA playoffs, my Bleacher Report app sent me an update alerting me that Matt Kuchar had won the RBC Heritage Open. I stared at the message and all along one thought consumed my mind, “Oh yeah, there was a tournament this weekend!”

As the 2014 Masters tournament is upon us, so too is another year of majors. Here is a look at the top 10 best players in the world (according to the World Golf Rankings) without a major title.

Those of you who have been following golf this year know about Patrick Reed. He is an up and coming player who has won three tournaments in the past year alone.

There is no doubt about it; golf’s long- time week to week favorite, Tiger Woods, just is not the same dominating force he once was. His well-documented struggles within the last few years have widened the field for his fellow competitors busting their asses every week to get a sniff of the winners circle. While every golf fan has their own opinion of the long time star, it is definitely a good thing for the golf world to have a leading man to draw patrons in and give them someone to rally behind. Tiger Woods is no longer this person and the PGA Tour needs a player like this.

Amidst all of Tiger Woods’ unbelievable successes, perhaps his most significant and important achievement may also seem like his most trivial: he made golf cool. For an entire generation of kids, Woods was a hero and viewed in the same light as the best athletes in the other top sports in America.

I want to precede what I say in this article by saying I am a fan of Tiger Woods. I always have been and always will be. I was one of the few rooting for him following his return from the infamous cheating scandal of 2009. I have always considered him as the best golfer to ever live and still currently root for him to break Jack Nicklaus’ major record and become statistically immortal.

As many of you know, we've been working with the Deutsche Bank Championship to promote their college ticket sales for the past two events. In a fun effort to build awareness around the special promotion, a dozen of CGP's most faithful were rocking orange #CollegeGolfBoys shirts on Monday's final round of this year's second FedEx cup event.

“The whole whispering, reverential tone seems straight out of a funeral home. We need a whole new approach to attract new viewers, maybe even to keep the old viewers.” - Gary Van Sickle

Access is everything. And fortunately, an opportunity to intern with a local television station this summer allowed me to have an all-access pass to this week’s PGA Championship in my hometown, Rochester, NY. Highlighting Friday's play was Jason Dufner who left a putt short on the 18th after shooting 63, tying the all time-major scoring record.

Oak Hill is a demanding course, but even Tiger Woods said that it was the fairest, toughest course he’d ever seen. The 1924 design has the sheer brutality of Merion and the strategic value of Muirfield. Like most Donald Ross courses, the 7,163 yard gem is jammed with par 4s, which mostly bend left to right.

Silvis, IL – PGA Tour history was made Sunday afternoon in a small Illinois town just a stones throw from the mighty Mississippi when Jordan Spieth, 19, became the first teenager to win on tour in over 82 years. Although Jordan's win is one for the ages, my big takeaway having volunteered at the Classic is a greater appreciation for the incredible charitable efforts of the PGA Tour.

Since I will be bombarding y’all with blog posts and my sense of rationale on a weekly basis for the next several months, I figured I would provide you with a sense of who I am and what I am about. First things first: My name is Austin Dillard, but I am known by most in the Blacksburg community by “Goose.” Feel free to call me anything under the sun that you think I will respond without being offended.

 (Photo Credit - Merion Golf Club)

Each year, the US Open forces players to grind unlike any other tournament on the PGA Tour. Thick rough, firm fairways, and fast greens force each player to give every shot the attention it deserves. Thus, the US Open leads to an abundance of high scores each year. After spending the last three days at Merion, I observed that three holes will be most influential in determining the winner of this year’s open.

Ever since I can remember, The Players has always been one of my favorite golf tournaments to watch. I’m not sure if that’s because the media hypes it up as “The Fifth Major,” or the amazing, and I mean AMAZING layout of TPC Sawgrass, or just the tour's biggest purse size of $9.5M. Be it the prestige, the adrenaline rush of hitting the 17th island green, or the ability to boost one's ranking with a high finish, this is one of the most sought after W’s each season.