The Czar has been a member of the Hamburg Men\u2019s Golf Club, Western New York Public Links Golf Association and Buffalo District Golf Association for 25 years.\u00a0 During this time I have witnessed a steady decline in membership for all three organizations and a precipitous drop of competitors in District wide tournament competition.\u00a0 Twenty five years ago one had to sign up in April in order to secure a spot in many of the BDGA tournaments.\u00a0 WNYPLGA team events drew multiple entries from many public clubs.<\/p>\n
In recent years public clubs struggled to field even one team and some clubs have all but disappeared from competition. Last year the BDGA ran two Senior tournaments at private country clubs that included a delicious lunch and great prizes.\u00a0 The entry fee for each tournament was less than a guest would pay for every day green fees at these clubs and yet we struggled to get 50 participants for each event.\u00a0 For the life of me I can\u2019t understand why.<\/p>\n
I play golf because I love the game and strive constantly to improve.\u00a0 I want to improve because I want to be competitive.\u00a0 I love competing and I can compete with anybody because I have a USGA handicap.\u00a0 Without competition, playing golf would be like hitting baseballs in a batting cage without ever playing a game.\u00a0 Shooting hoops without playing a half court 3 on 3.\u00a0 How many people would bowl if they weren\u2019t competing in a league?<\/p>\n
Full disclosure, The Czar serves on the Board of Directors for both the Hamburg Men\u2019s Golf Club and the Buffalo District Golf Association.\u00a0 My motive in writing this column is to awaken the completive spirit in as many golfers as I can who read this.\u00a0 I want them to think about going beyond the weekend Nassau they play among friends and make a real commitment to competition in 2014.<\/p>\n
If you play golf at least once a week, consider joining a club or league.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to be a huge financial investment.\u00a0 Most public clubs have membership fees that are less than what you would pay for a round of golf at a decent golf course.\u00a0 If you are a member of a private or public club, consider broadening your competition schedule to include some WNYPLGA and BDGA tournaments.\u00a0 Nothing satisfies the competitive juices more than winning a District wide competition or leading your club to a to a team victory.<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t agree with me, leave some feedback and tell me your reasons.\u00a0 Maybe there are steps we can take to improve our organizations and increase membership and participation.\u00a0 But whether you agree or disagree, enjoy the 2014 golf season.\u00a0 Mine starts February 1st<\/sup> in Florida and I can\u2019t wait!<\/p>\n Brian Williams<\/p>\n golfczar AT hotmail.com<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Czar has been a member of the Hamburg Men\u2019s Golf Club, Western New York Public Links Golf Association and Buffalo District Golf Association for 25 years.\u00a0 During this time I have witnessed a steady decline in membership for all three organizations and a precipitous drop of competitors in District wide tournament competition.\u00a0 Twenty five […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":289,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[391],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-john-mooshie"],"yoast_head":"\n